Love, Hate, Date (ON HIATUS)
by MooMooMochi
Summary: Yugi and his friends all had normal lives, until one day when Yugi brought some ancient Egyptian artefacts to school. These artefacts released the ghosts inside, who were then bound to Yugi and his friends. Will love bloom from these mysterious figures, or will relationships be ruined? Puzzleshipping, Irateshipping, Puppyshipping, Thiefshipping, Bronzeshipping, etc. and yaoi.
1. Chapter 1: The Mysterious Dream

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of the characters. The only rights I own are to my own original characters. I do not gain any money from this work.**

* * *

 _"Hello?"_

A voice called out from what seemed like an endless abyss, searching for someone's presence. The sudden call out of the darkness made Yugi jump as he stood in the pitch black expanse. Yugi held his breathe, not wanting to answer the call for fear that he may be in some danger. His heartbeat increased with each passing moment, and he had to stop himself from crying out in fear. Yugi's greatest fear was the dark, but it was made even scarier with the voice's echoes.

 _"Hello? Is anyone there?"_

The voice continued to resonate in the darkness, causing Yugi to start shaking more heavily. The voice had a bold and strong voice, and while it did sound curious and cautious, it was still mighty enough to scare Yugi. His lungs burned with a need for air, and were suddenly granted their wish when Yugi let out a huge gasp. A strong light had shone directly onto Yugi, revealing his position to the other presence. Yugi stood still out of shock at first, but quickly began to shiver. His breathing increased heavily and he frantically looked around, searching for the other person.

 _"What the...?"_

* * *

Yugi awoke from his terrible nightmare with a scream. The sweat dripped down from his forehead as he sat up in his warm bed, and he quickly searched for the source of the voice. Yugi's room was filled with various games and Duel Monsters plushies, but no one except Yugi was inside it. Everything was in it's correct place, including the door and window. It appeared as if no one had entered the room, meaning the voice must have been from Yugi's nightmare. He gave a relieved sigh.

"I really need to stop drinking soda before bed," Yugi muttered to himself. He knew that drinking anything carbonated before he slept resulted in a bad night's sleep, but he never thought that it could give him such terrible nightmares.

Light had already flooded the room, and when Yugi glanced over at the clock it read 8:35. He rubbed the sand out of his eyes and rolled out of the bed, knowing that he had to get ready for school. As quickly as he could manage, Yugi stripped off his pyjamas and got changed into his school uniform. He gave his hair a rigorous brush and double checked his appearance in the mirror, before finally exiting his room and walking down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Good morning Yugi!" His grandfather greeted him as he walked into the kitchen and sat down. "Good morning Grandpa," Yugi replied as he placed a slice of toast into the toaster.

"I heard your scream upstairs, rough night huh?" he asked. Yugi nodded. "As tasty as lemonade is, I think I might have to switch to milk. Soda just messes with my sleep."

"I thought it may have been the soda. Or perhaps I'm thinking of cheese. I think I may have forgotten something...yes, I was thinking of something. Something important..."

The toast popped out from the toaster, and Yugi covered it with some butter and strawberry jam. Perhaps it may have seemed a little girly to some people, but Yugi loved the taste of strawberries. Every time strawberries were offered, Yugi made sure not to pass up the opportunity. He even wore strawberry deodorant. Yugi moved the toast to his mouth to take a bite, but suddenly stopped when he saw the time on the kitchen clock. 8:51.

"Ah, that was it! I was unpacking my backpack from my trip to Egypt, and I completely forgot that I bought you some-"

His grandfather's conversation was cut short when Yugi swung his bag over his back and rushed out the door. "I'm really sorry Grandpa," Yugi called out. "I'm gonna be late for school!" His grandfather simply shook his head and chuckled, knowing that this was a common occurrence. "Have a good day Yugi," he yelled after him.

* * *

Yugi managed to make it to role call before the bell, and quickly sat down with his friend group. Ryou was trying to explain his latest novel to Marik, while Marik sat there laughing and asking silly questions about it, making Ryou more flustered. Honda was talking to Anzu about a rare Duel Monsters card he had collected, which Anzu seemed uninterested in. Katsuya sat back in his seat while spinning a pen around with one hand, and upon seeing Yugi he gave him a big smile and waved.

"Glad you made it Yugi! We thought for sure this time you'd be late," Katsuya said. Yugi gave a laugh and sat down at his desk. "I thought so too, especially since I had a rough night's sleep."

Yugi unzipped his bag and went to grab his school books, only to realise they weren't there. In place of his books were three golden objects, which seemed to be Egyptian in appearance. "Oh no," Yugi groaned. "I must've accidentally picked up my grandpa's bag instead." The shiny objects seemed to grab his friends attention, and Marik swooped down and picked up one of the objects. "Whoa, these look just like the symbols I saw when I lived in Egypt!" Marik exclaimed excitedly. He held the golden rod he had grabbed in the air for everyone to see, and began using it as if he were conducting an orchestra.

"Marik, be careful with that! Who knows where these artefacts have been? For all we know, these could be real Egyptian relics!" Ryou cried out. Marik looked at Ryou and stopped for a second, before resuming his antics and pretending to be in a parade. "Oh lighten up Ryou, Yugi wouldn't have real Egyptian stuff in his bag, they'd never let it out of the country."

Ryou sighed and turned his attention towards Yugi's bag. Carefully, Ryou lifted up a golden necklace and examined it. It appeared to be a large triangle with an eye inside of a ring, and Ryou checked it thoroughly for any details or inscriptions. "Fascinating," he mumbled to himself. "Well, they do look Egyptian, but I don't recall ever seeing artefacts like this before."

"They're probably cheap souvenirs sold to tourists as a keepsake," Marik added while studying Ryou's necklace. "You're probably right Marik," Ryou said as he placed the necklace around his neck. "How do I look?"

"Like an Egyptian prince!" Katsuya said. Yugi and his friends laughed and became enthralled with the golden objects. "Hey Yugi, what about that last one?" Honda asked. Yugi looked back down in his bag, and to his surprise there was one last Egyptian piece left. He reached down and slowly pulled out a golden pyramid attached to a large chain. It seemed similar to Ryou's in that it was a necklace, but it had a completely different chain and pattern. Yugi smiled and placed it around his neck, laughing with his friends. "You're not the only Egyptian prince now Ryou!"

Yugi's laughter was broken when he was struck with a wave of pain. His ears rang loudly and his vision quickly turned fuzzy. He grabbed his head and shook it a few times, which seemed to stop the sudden pains. "You okay Yugi?" Katsuya asked. He placed a hand on Yugi's shoulder, and Yugi looked up at him. "Yeah, I'm fine, I just felt really weird for a second." He rubbed his temples a few times and then took a deep breath.

The school bell began to ring, indicating that it was time for class to start. Yugi was in Katsuya and Honda's class, while Ryou had class with Seto and Marik had class with Anzu. Before Yugi could ask Marik and Ryou to return the souvenirs they walked out of the room. Marik seemed to be having fun playing around with his newfound toy, while Ryou seemed dazed and out of it. The teacher walked into the room to begin the lesson, so Yugi figured he could simply ask later.

"Hey Katsuya, you don't think I could borrow a pencil and some paper do you?"

* * *

Yugi's headache had continued to grow throughout the lesson, and it was a huge relief for him when he heard the bell ring for lunch. He gave a quick stretch and picked up his bag, before heading out the door with Katsuya. "Thanks for helping me out," he said to his friend. Katsuya smiled.

"You can repay me by having lunch together, I've been thinking of going out on the field for a change." Yugi nodded in agreement and followed Katsuya towards their school's field. Normally they had lunch in their homeroom, but on warm days it was nice to sit on the grass and enjoy the sun. "Aren't we going to have it with the others?" Yugi asked. Katsuya smiled and held his finger up to his lip, making a 'shhh' motion. "Not today, I've got some exciting news to tell you!"

The two found a good spot by the edge of the forest and sat down on a fallen log. Katsuya stretched his arms and relaxed in the warm sunlight, while Yugi searched his bag for some food. Inside he found a bottle of water and some plain crackers, most likely from the airport or train station. "Don't worry Yugi, I've got you covered," Katsuya said as he handed Yugi a sandwich. "Thanks Katsuya, I'll have to repay you." He laughed and patted Yugi's head. "Nah man, don't worry about it. It's what friends are for!"

"Speaking of friends, what was it you needed to tell me away from them?" Yugi asked. Katsuya's face curled as he tried to remember, before turning into a happy smile. "That was it! You didn't hear the announcement because you were late, but there's a school festival coming up in a few weeks, and yours truly managed to get a stall position working with Marik!" Yugi's face lit up with excitement. "That's awesome Katsuya!" He laughed. "It's the perfect opportunity to tell him how I feel, but I need a really good plan. Do you think you could help me out Yugi?"

Yugi thought for a bit while eating his sandwich, trying to come up with ideas. "Well, if you're working in a stall together, it will eventually make you hungry and tired. There's also usually a fireworks show at the end of the festival, so you could go watch that. What if you made a special piece just for Marik at the end of festival, and then gave it to him alone when the fireworks start?"

Katsuya jumped up with joy. "That's perfect Yugi! I can hide a little note in whatever I make him, and then we can enjoy the fireworks!" He knelt down and gave Yugi a huge hug, causing the air to squeeze out of Yugi's lungs. "K-katsuya, a little s-space!" Katsuya paused for a second, before jumping back. "Sorry Yugi, I'm just so happy!"

"I don't suppose you could help me with my relationship problem then?" Yugi asked with hopeful eyes. Katsuya sat back down and took out his lunch, ready to listen. "I'm all ears Yugi."

"Well, I've been trying to tell Ryou how I feel for forever now, but I'm way too scared. You're so confident and can tell people how you feel straight up, but I'm way too scared about him rejecting me. I guess it would be better for me to test the waters, you know? I just want to see how he'll react to a guy liking him before I go and say it. What should I do?"

"Hmm, this is a hard one Yugi," Katsuya grumbled while taking a bite. "You'd have to set it up so Ryou didn't know it was you, but you could still see his reaction." He took a few more bites and began chewing slowly. Yugi chuckled, Katsuya always ate his food slowly when he was trying to concentrate hard, and it always made him laugh. You could almost see the cogs in his brain turning. Katsuya gave a big gulp, then turned to Yugi with a thoughtful expression. "What if you wrote a letter for Ryou to discover, but placed it in an obvious enough place that he would read it during school, like in his bag?"

Yugi's face lit up and he clapped his hands. "That's a perfect idea! We've still got some time today to do it, do you have any paper and markers?"

"I think so, let me check," Katsuya said as he searched through his bag. He pulled out a white piece of paper and various coloured pens, which he handed to Yugi. "Make sure you put his name on it, and we can go back before the end of lunch and sneak it into his bag."

Yugi quickly began thinking of what to write down, while Katsuya enjoyed the rest of his lunch. "Let's see...what about 'Your gentle eyes warm my heart like hot chocolate on a snowy day'?" Katsuya chuckled at Yugi. "Poetic. Make sure to include how smart he is."

"Oh yeah, I should include that. How about 'You're smart, talented and beautiful, and your warm eyes make my heart melt. From, your male admirer'?"

"Sounds pretty good to me. Oh, and make sure you draw a cute picture, Ryou loves that kind of stuff."

Yugi wrote down what he had said, and drew a cute little bunny on the page. After adding a few brightly coloured hearts to grab his attention, he folded the paper up nicely and placed it in his pocket. "Let's just hope Ryou isn't so smart that he owns a fingerprint kit." Katsuya gave a little chuckle. "If he did I wouldn't be surprised. Alright lover boy, let's go deliver you letter!"

* * *

By the time Yugi had returned from the field his head was pounding pretty bad, not to mention he was growing quite dizzy. Katsuya and Yugi walked into the homeroom and sat down by their friends, but Ryou was nowhere to be seen. "Hey Marik, where's Ryou? Has he gone to the bathroom?" Marik turned his attention towards Yugi. "No, he left at the start of lunch, said he was feeling pretty sick and needed to go home. I must've caught it too, my head is killing me."

Yugi nodded in agreement and pointed to his head. "I know how you feel, I've got a killer headache too." He sat down and finished the crackers and water in his bag, hoping that something bland would make him feel better. "I'm probably just dehydrated," Yugi thought to himself.

* * *

After lunch, Yugi returned to his class and tried his best to stay awake. Although he had a painful headache and fever, he kept feeling as if he were being drained of energy. Yugi gave a huge sigh of relief and returned Katsuya's pen to him, before rushing out the door and towards the game shop. "I just need a nice nap, that's all," Yugi thought to himself as he made his way home. When he opened the door he threw his grandfather's bag on the ground and ran upstairs for some well deserved rest.

As soon as he got to his bedroom, Yugi took off his shoes and jumped under his covers. He knew that it would be uncomfortable waking up in his school uniform, but all he could think about was getting some shut eye. His eyes began to close and his breathing slowed down, as Yugi began drifting off to sleep. "I forgot to take off that pyramid necklace," he thought to himself in the few seconds before he completely passed out.


	2. Chapter 2: The Spirit In The Puzzle

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of the characters. The only rights I own are to my own original characters. I do not gain any money from this work.**

* * *

When Yugi opened his eyes again all the could see was the darkness surrounding him. It seemed blacker than black, as if all the light in the world had been swallowed and devoured by the abyss around him. He could feel himself standing up, so he knew that he wasn't in his bedroom. "This must be the same nightmare as last night," he thought to himself as he trembled. His hands shook by his sides and he played with his fingers to try and calm himself down.

" _Who's there? I know you're in here!"_

Yugi froze when he heard the voice from last night, and began to panic more. Whoever else was in his dream began walking around, and with each step Yugi shook a little harder. The person began jogging, then running, causing Yugi's instincts to kick in. Running meant he was getting closer, and that meant Yugi was closer to danger. He began to turn his heels and readied himself to run away from the direction of the footsteps, but was stopped by an incredibly bright light shining down on himself. For a second he was blinded, and Yugi quickly covered his eyes and rubbed them.

Whatever this light was, it had revealed Yugi's position to the other person, and he frantically looked around in search of the owner of the mysterious voice. A few metres from Yugi stood a taller version of himself. Unlike Yugi's hair which had pink tips, the person's hair had red tips. His eyes also looked sharper, and he looked like a manlier version of Yugi in general.

"What the...?" Yugi mumbled in confusion. He took a step back and the person reached their hand out to him, but Yugi's vision suddenly went black and he passed out.

* * *

When Yugi awoke from his nightmare he was dripping with sweat. The sun had already gone down and the room was pitch black, so Yugi felt around for his bed light. The light turned on and the room became clear again, calming Yugi slightly. He went to sigh in relief, but paused when he saw the figure from his dream lying on his bed next to him. Yugi's mouth opened to scream, but no noise came out. He became frozen in fear, and could only watch helplessly as the doppelgänger began to wake.

The lookalike grumbled and rubbed his forehead, then yawned and gave a big stretch. Yugi simply sat there, staring at the person. They opened their eyes and looked Yugi up and down, before smiling and chuckling. "I suppose I have some explaining to do?"

Yugi felt control returning to him, and he jumped out of the bed and began backing up towards the wall. "P-p-p-police! H-h-help!" Yugi cried out, shaking violently. The person sitting on his bed stared at Yugi for a second, before doubling over with laughter. "Sorry, sorry, but your reaction was priceless!"

After calming down the person stood up from Yugi's bed and walked over to him. "I'm Yami. Pleased to meet you," he said casually as he extended his hand for a handshake. Yugi looked up at Yami, then down at his hand, and finally back up. "H-h-how d-did you g-g-get in?" he asked weakly. The figure turned his head and covered his mouth with his hand, trying to hold back more laughter. "Sorry, gets me every time," he said as he turned his attention back to Yugi. "Listen, I know it's going to sound weird, because, well, it is weird. I'm an Egyptian spirit who was trapped in the Millennium Puzzle, that's the necklace you're wearing, and by using it you released me."

Yugi began breathing as best he could and tried to compose himself. He slowly opened his mouth to reply to Yami, but he was startled by a knock on his bedroom door. Yami looked shocked for a second and suddenly turned transparent, just as the door opened. "Yugi?" asked his grandfather. "Ah, you're awake. I made you some dinner, but I didn't know when you'd wake up, so I'll leave it in here. I see you've got the souvenirs I bought for you, I'm glad you're enjoying them. Oh, and Katsuya called, he said he'd been trying to ring but you weren't picking up. Make sure to give him a call before you go back to bed."

His grandfather walked in and sat the meal down on Yugi's desk. He turned to look at Yugi, before adopting a confused look. "Are you alright Yugi? You look like you've seen a ghost." Yugi gave a weak smile. "I-I'm fine Grandpa." His grandfather gave Yugi a reassuring smile. "If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm always here."

After Yugi's grandfather left the room and closed the door, Yami returned to full colour and walked over to the meal on Yugi's desk. "What is this? I've never seen food like this before." Yugi looked over at bowl and inspected it's contents. "It's p-p-pasta," he squeaked. Yami picked up the fork and took a bite of the meal, before widening his eyes. "Amazing, it's creamy like milk but salty and savoury! I like this 'pasta' your grandfather made Yugi!"

Yami's calmness made Yugi relax a little more, and he began to talk clearer. "H-how did you turn invisible like t-that?" Yugi asked, his voice returning to a normal volume. Yami looked over his shoulder at Yugi while continuing to eat the pasta. "Oh that, well considering I'm technically a spirit, I can turn invisible at will. Normal people are unable to see me if I want, but I can appear real too. You can still see me though, because you're known as a 'hikari' now. You're basically the physical being that I'm connected to, the better side of the two of us. I'm what you'd call a 'yami', or the darker spirit side. Hikaris and yamis are able to see each other, even if they aren't connected."

Yugi slowly walked over to the bed and sat down, fearing he may pass out from shock. His mind tried to process the explanation Yami had given him. "It would explain how he got in, as well as how Grandpa couldn't see him," Yugi thought to himself. After a few moments of thinking, Yugi readied himself to question the spirit.

"Alright, so you're a 'yami', and I'm a 'hikari', but how are we connected?" Yugi asked. Yami seemed pleased to get a question. "Good question Yugi. When a spirit is trapped they are simply a presence, an energy, but when they are released they gain a somewhat physical and ghostly form. Because we start as nothing, we don't really have a planned form, and so we end up looking like our hikaris. We are also literally connected by something called 'spirit string', which is basically an invisible string that stops me from being too far apart from you. If the string were to break for some reason I would either vanish or return to the Millennium Puzzle, depends how it breaks."

Yugi nodded, signalling that he understood. "So what is this 'Millennium Puzzle'? How does it work?" Yami put down his fork and looked happy. "I love explaining this part. The Millennium Puzzle is the artefact that I was attached to before you released me. Most spirits are strong enough to travel freely, but when they are released they weaken. The longer they stay in their ghost form, the weaker the get when they return to their spirit form. Age also weakens most spirits. I've been around for thousands of years, and to avoid vanishing I attached myself to the Millennium Puzzle. Now that we're connected by the Millennium Puzzle you can't remove it, and trying to will only hurt you."

"Oh really?" Yugi asked, skeptical about what Yami said. He attempted to pull the Millennium Puzzle off, but suddenly stopped when a sharp pain shot through his body, making Yugi cry out. "They always try to remove it," Yami said, chuckling. Yugi shot him a dirty look, but with his doll-like appearance it turned out more like a pout. "You could have at least warned me, Yami."

Yami returned to his bowl of pasta, trying to eat as much as he could. "Any other questions?" he asked. Yugi thought for a second, before looking back at Yami. "Just one. What's the point of all this? Are you meant to accomplish something or help me out, or do you just return to the Millennium Puzzle and leave when you decide?" Yami swallowed his mouthful of pasta and looked at Yugi. "You see, the thing about that is...I don't really have a purpose. I just float around and have fun until you die. I guess I could help you, if I wanted."

Yugi turned pale at Yami's response. "Wait, did you say d-die? How am I meant to live with you until I die, I don't even know you!" Yami's face turned to a frown. "What, are you saying I'm not good enough to live with or something?" He placed the bowl down on the desk and crossed his arms, clearly offended by the statement. His eyes narrowed and shot Yugi a mean glare. "I didn't exactly choose this you know, you could've just left the Millennium Puzzle alone for something else to wear." Yugi tried hard to make a grumpy face, which again turned into a pout. "I didn't know it was going to be some spirit artefact thing! It didn't exactly come with a label or instructions."

The spirit mumbled something before picking up the bowl again. "Hey Yugi, I ate all of the 'pasta'. Where can I find more?" Yugi sighed and retrieved the bowl from Yami, the spirit had eaten it all despite not technically being real. "The nerve of this guy, he eats my dinner, uses my body as a portal to the physical realm, argues with me, and then demands I get him more pasta. And now he's stuck with me until I die."

* * *

The two of them walked downstairs and into the kitchen to find some more food. Yugi's grandfather had gone to bed already, but Yami turned transparent just in case. Yugi opened the fridge and retrieved some precooked pasta and some sauce ingredients, then placed them onto the countertop. Yami stood there watching as Yugi turned on the kitchen lights and got out a saucepan. "Why don't you just get your slave to do this Yugi?" he asked, obviously confused by the situation. The question made Yugi laugh a little. "We don't have slaves Yami, not for a long time. Speaking of which, I'm not your slave, so you have to help out."

This statement made Yami laugh. At first he thought Yugi was joking around, but when he realised how serious Yugi was he stopped laughing. "Wait, seriously? I'm an Egyptian prince, I shouldn't have to cook." Yugi gave Yami a sly grin. "Well, now you're a spirit stuck to me through a shiny necklace, so I'm the one in charge. You can start by cutting up the tomato."

Yami watched in surprise as Yugi pushed a chopping board, knife and tomato towards him on the counter. He returned to his opaque form so that he could cut the tomato, and then picked up the knife. Yami thought for a moment, before breaking out into a smile. "Alright, Yugi. I will cut this 'tomato', and we shall see who is the one in charge!" Yugi smiled cheerfully at Yami and nodded, before turning around and preparing the rest of the ingredients. His attitude made Yami's smile falter, but he was determined to show Yugi that he was the better half. Yami carefully raised the knife and began slicing it forwards and backwards to cut the tomato in half. Some of the liquid inside spilled out, causing Yami to hesitate. "Is cutting a 'tomato' meant to be this...messy?" he asked. "Sure is," Yugi replied, enjoying every second. Yami stuck to his task and began cutting in a checkerboard pattern, doing his best to make squares. Some of the pieces were different shapes and a few were completely squashed, but to Yami it was a culinary masterpiece.

"Ha, I have finished cutting your 'tomato' into pieces Yugi. What is my next challenge?" he asked triumphantly. Yugi turned around and inspected Yami's work, throwing out a few bad pieces. "Not too bad, but a bit slow. Now we have to cook the pasta sauce." He picked up the cutting board and used the knife to slide the tomato into the saucepan. Yugi threw in some garlic, olives, herbs, salt and pasta sauce, then handed a big wooden spoon to Yami. "Now all you have to do is stir it until it boils, then add the cream." He pushed Yami in front of the stove and pressed the button to light the flame, which fascinated Yami. "How did you do that? The flame just...appeared! What shadow magic is this?" he asked, staring in amazement at the flame of the stove. "Shadow magic?" Yugi replied. "I didn't use magic, I just created a spark which lit the gas." Yami stared at the warm glow underneath the saucepan, gazing in awe at the new technology. "Amazing..." he whispered. Never before had he seen an invention this grand, and he was eager to try it out.

Yami began stirring the contents of the pot, watching as small bubbled began to rise up. "Yugi, the pot is bubbling, what do I do now?" Yugi turned back to Yami and took the spoon from his hand. He grabbed a small spoonful and tasted it, checking to see if the flavour was right. "Pretty good Yami, but you need to add the final ingredient. Just take that carton next to you and scoop some cream out." Yami turned his attention to the small box labelled 'sour cream' that Yugi was referring to, and picked it up. It was cold to the touch and had an angelic, white appearance. He took the spoon and pulled out a large glob of the creamy substance, which he then dropped into the pot.

"Good work! Now all you have to do is stir until there are no big lumps." Yami mixed the cream in as best he could, although it was a little hard to break the lumps down. A beeping noise startled him, and he turned around to see Yugi placing two bowls of plain pasta into a metal box. Yugi pressed a switch on the side and the machine whirred to life, rotating the bowls and illuminating them. "Yugi, what is that? What is it doing?" he asked.

"This is called a microwave. We use it to heat up food quickly, but you can't really cook in it. It's easier to heat the pasta up in this then boil fresh stuff," Yugi answered. The bowls spun inside for a few moments, stopping when the machine beeped loudly. When Yugi took the pasta out it was warm and steamy, impressing Yami even more. "Alright, time to plate up," Yugi announced. He grabbed the saucepan and poured some sauce into each of the two bowls, then placed it in the sink. Yugi took a few leaves of parsley from his kitchen herb garden and sprinkled it on top, then grabbed some forks. "All done! Come on, let's eat upstairs." It took Yami a few seconds to regather himself as Yugi walked up the stairs. He had certainly seen some amazing things, especially concerning shadow magic, but this was unlike anything he had witnessed before.

* * *

Yami slowly followed Yugi upstairs and sat down on Yugi's bed. The smaller teen handed him a bowl of pasta and sat down. "So Yami, how long have you been sitting in that puzzle for?" Yugi asked as he ate. Yami thought for a second, trying his best to remember. "I believe it would have been a few thousand years, though I can't say for sure. I remember I stopped taking new forms after the kingdom was abandoned."

Yugi stared at Yami with interest. "So you've been sitting in there for thousands of years? What did you do all day?" Yami was happy to hear that Yugi was so curious about his life, and gave a charming smile. "Well, you probably wouldn't believe me if I told you, but the puzzle was specifically made for spirits to inhabit, so there's lots of stuff to do in there. Actually, that's where I first remember meeting you."

"Meeting me?" Yugi asked. He knew that he had been having nightmares, but he didn't think he got sucked into a strange spirit house. "Yes, the puzzle must have sensed you before you put it on, that's why I knew you were in there the first time. It means you have a powerful soul. When you fall asleep while wearing the Millennium puzzle, your soul is taken inside and you can do whatever you want."

Yugi seemed quite shocked by what Yami had told him. "So wait, I won't be able to dream anymore?" Yami gave a friendly laugh. "You can still dream, you won't go in there every time, and sometimes your soul might leave. I can also go in the puzzle and talk to you while you're asleep, but that's about as far as it goes." Yugi finished off his pasta while listening to Yami talk. For the most part he seemed interested and immersed, but a look of realisation shot across his face when he mentioned sleeping. "Yami, how are we going to sleep tonight? I mean, we can't both sleep together," Yugi asked, blushing slightly at the last part. He had never slept in the same bed as anyone, except with his parents when he was very little. Not to mention being in bed with another guy could cause Yugi some...'problems'.

Yami was taken back by the question. "Well, you don't expect me to sleep on the floor do you? I'm an Egyptian prince, I've been stuck in a piece of metal for thousands of years, I think I deserve to sleep in a bed." Yugi frowned a little, slightly angered by what Yami said. "I can't sleep on the floor or Grandpa will be suspicious. You said that you have that 'spirit string', why do you have to stay here? Can't you go somewhere else?"

"Sleep outside? That's even worse," Yami shouted lightly. "If we both want the bed, why can't we both just sleep together? I don't see what's so wrong with that." Yugi began to blush, his words getting tangled. "W-well, I-it's just that I...I-it's personal, o-okay?" he stuttered. Yami gave him a confused look, making Yugi gulp. "Why are you acting so strange Yugi?" he asked, curious as to what the problem was.

Yugi's mind raced as he tried to come up with the perfect response. Should he just tell Yami that he was gay and it would be too embarrassing? Should he give in and sleep on the floor? As Yugi was trying to think of what to say, Yami stood up and began removing his clothing, making Yugi freeze. "W-w-what are y-you d-d-doing?" he cried as Yami stripped down to his boxers. "Getting ready for bed," Yami replied. "You don't expect me to sleep in all that clothing do you?" He moved the clothes into a small pile and placed the empty pasta bowls on Yugi's desk. Yami jumped onto Yugi's bed and curled up under the covers, showing him that he was in charge. "You can either join me or sleep on the floor, your choice Yugi. Hey, what's wrong? Do you have a fever?"

Yami lifted up a hand and felt Yugi's forehead. His heart was racing, his face was red, and now he was beginning to heat up. Yugi just couldn't believe he had someone else in his bed, a guy no less. "I-I'm fine," he responded weakly, before standing up. "I-I guess if y-you sleep on that side, I-it's okay." Yami smiled cheerfully and adjusted the pillows. "Good, now get ready for bed and let's get some shuteye!" Hearing Yami say that only made Yugi's heart race more. "I can't s-strip down in front of y-you," he protested. Once again, Yami looked confused. "Why not? I just undressed in front of you. We basically share the same body, so you're bound to look as gorgeous as me. There's nothing embarrassing about that."

Yugi hesitated at first, but did his best to reassure himself. "That's true, we're basically the same, there's nothing to be ashamed of. I can just use this as practise. I just have to think of it like getting changed for gym class," Yugi thought to himself. He was still nervous about taking his clothes off, so Yugi turned away from Yami and began undressing. He pulled his shirt over his head and removed his socks, trying to avoid removing his pants. Once he had removed all other clothing articles, Yugi unbuttoned his pants and watched as they slid down around his ankles. His cheeks flushed a bright red, and Yugi tugged at the boxers as to hide as much as possible. Interestingly enough, Yami had copied Yugi's boxers when he took his physical form, which only made Yugi more embarrassed.

When he turned around, Yugi expected to see Yami checking him out, or possibly laughing at the small boy's fragile body, but instead he was fascinated with Yugi's bedside lamp. "Yugi, you have to explain this to me. How is it that you have captured the light of the sun in this small glass sphere?" he asked curiously. Yugi walked over to the bed and crawled into it, trying his best not to touch Yami. "It's called a lightbulb, it uses electricity to produce light and heat." Yami seemed amazed once again at the technology in Yugi's house. "I like this 'electricity'. You will have to teach me about it tomorrow Yugi," he said, laughing in excitement. Yugi reached over and turned the lamp off, making Yami stare in wonder at him. "That's amazing Yugi! You turned off the 'electricity'!"

Yugi took one of the pillows and laid down on it, trying his best to remain calm. Yami's presence in his bed was making Yami's hormones rage, and he did the best to stop them from getting the best of him. "Well, we better get to sleep," Yugi said, hoping that Yami would fulfil his end of the agreement. "Very well Yugi, I hope you sleep well, and enjoy the Millennium Puzzle when you dream. Goodnight!" he responded cheerfully. Yugi couldn't help but smile, though he tried his hardest to wipe the grin off his face quickly. "Goodnight to you too, Yami."

Yami lay down away from Yugi and adjusted his position, trying his best to get comfortable. Yugi lay completely still, his eyes still wide open. The awkwardness of the situation as well as his nervousness made it hard for Yugi to feel even the slightest bit sleepy, but he forced his eyes shut and tried to sleep. A few minutes passed and the teen was still wide awake, although he could hear Yami's gentle snoring. Somehow the noise was relaxing and calmed Yugi down, making him a little more tired. He waited in his bed, slowly sinking into a sleep state, and began to slow down his breathing. Yugi's mind went blank, his thoughts dissipated, and his vision began to darken.

"Goodnight Yami," he thought, falling asleep shortly after.


	3. Chapter 3: Red Thread

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of the characters. The only rights I own are to my own original characters. I do not gain any money from this work.**

 **Note: Check out the poll on my profile, it would help a lot to improve my stories!**

* * *

Sunlight streamed through Yugi's curtains, warming the boy as he lay in bed. He stirred from his sleep and fluttered his eyes open, enjoying the peaceful morning. Yugi could feel himself snuggling into something warm, and he moved closer for comfort. He breathed in the scent of what he was cuddling, noticing it was similar to his own. An arm wrapped around Yugi's exposed body, pulling him closer. Yugi relaxed all his muscles and enjoyed the feeling of being held close. As he began waking up from his sleepy state, Yugi looked towards the source of the warmth. Yami lay down on the bed, his eyes shut gently with a small smile on his face. His arm held Yugi close to his body, and Yugi was snuggled on top of Yami's chest. At first he didn't realise the reality of the situation, and simply clung closer to Yami, but a few seconds later it began to dawn on him. He was cuddling Yami.

Yugi's face immediately turned red and his cheeks began to heat up. Seeing Yami's bare chest and sleepy face while lying on him made Yugi incredibly embarrassed, and he could feel something begin to happen in his boxers, making him blush harder. "I've got to get out before he realises," Yugi thought, scared he might wake his yami up. He couldn't just flip onto his other side, as Yami's arm was trapping him, not to mention it could cause him to stir out of his sleep. Crawling on top and then leaving wasn't an option, as it would be quite hard to explain the situation if Yami were to wake. "I guess all I can really do is try to slink downwards and then leave," Yugi thought as he mentally prepared himself. He took one last look at Yami's gentle expression and rosy lips, before wriggling his body down slowly. Yami's arm was limp thankfully, and Yugi managed to slip out of the spirit's grasp and turn away. He gave a sigh of relief, although he couldn't deny that he regretted it a little bit.

The side table was next to Yugi's side of the bed, and he looked up to read the alarm clock. The clock ticked over to 8:20, and the small bell inside began to chime. Yugi moved his arm to turn the alarm off, but was held back by fear when he heard the sound of Yami moving around in the bed. Although Yugi was out of Yami's grasp, the situation in his underwear had not been fixed yet, and he scrambled to cover himself. Yami's arm reached over Yugi and smacked the small clock until the ringing stopped, then proceeded to wrap around Yugi's lower stomach. The spirit pressed his body against Yugi's back, trying to steal the smaller boy's warmth. Yami took a deep whiff of Yugi's hair, breathing deeply into his own smell. Yugi could feel his pants tighten even more, and he racked his brain desperately for escape ideas. Climbing over wouldn't work, and Yami's grip was too great to slip out from beneath, limiting Yugi's options to 'stay in bed' or 'ask Yami to move'.

"Um, Y-Yami?" Yugi asked, trying to sound as least nervous as possible. He heard the spirit yawn loudly and snuggle deeper into Yugi's back. "Yes Yugi?" he replied, totally relaxed and content. "P-please let me go," he asked, anxiously waiting to get out of bed and cover himself. Yami didn't respond for a few seconds, then giggled. "But you're so warm, I haven't slept this well in thousands of years."

The lack of progress was beginning to make Yugi incredibly anxious and upset. The only thing he could do at this point was to just force his way out. Yugi began to remove Yami's arms from his body and he jumped out of bed as quickly as possible, trying to keep his back to Yami. He walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out a fresh uniform to begin dressing. When Yugi grabbed a fresh pair of underwear, he realised that he would have to remove his boxers with Yami there. "I can't go to the bathroom because Grandpa's downstairs, so I just have to make sure he doesn't see," Yugi thought to himself while trying to formulate a plan in his mind. He looked around his room, trying to think of how to avoid being seen, when suddenly his eyes landed on the wardrobe. "Of course, I can just change inside!" Yugi thought happily.

"I-I'm just going to change, p-please don't look," Yugi said to Yami. He was still in bed, a sleepy expression on his face, and he nodded at Yugi's request. "I'll get dressed too." Yugi climbed into the wardrobe and closed the doors, leaving him inside with the fresh clothing. The inside was quite cramped, and Yugi struggled a little, but he managed to remove his boxers and put new underwear on without opening the doors. He slipped his school pants and shirt on, and began to button up the top. Once Yugi felt covered enough he opened the doors and walked back out to put on the last of his uniform. "What would you like for brea-" Yugi's words were stopped when he looked over at Yami. The spirit was stark naked, standing towards Yugi with his arms crossed, a casual expression on his face. "If it's not too much to ask Yugi, could I borrow some fresh clothes?"

Yugi stared at Yami in shock, too surprised to say anything. He looked up at Yami's face, then down, then back up again. Once his brain had processed the situation and his legs regained control, Yugi quickly swung around and looked away, his face becoming hot and red. His hand reached into the wardrobe and shakily pulled out a clean pair of underwear. Yugi closed his eyes tightly and turned around to Yami, holding the boxers out to him. "Thanks Yugi," Yami said cheerfully as he grabbed the boxers and put them on. He began dressing into the clothes he had left on the floor, oblivious to Yugi's reactions. Yugi stood still, red-faced and in shock at the sight he had seen. The image that Yugi had seen was ingrained deeply in his mind, and he could feel his body react in ways he did not like. He quickly finished up getting dressed, hoping to take his mind off of what he had witnessed.

"I'm starving Yugi, what will we be having for breakfast?" Yami asked, making Yugi jump. Yugi carefully turned around, checking whether or not Yami was dressed yet. He sat on Yugi's desk, a slightly bored expression on his face. "G-Grandpa is downstairs, I-I'll bring food u-u-p," Yugi squeaked and rushed out the door. Once outside the bedroom, Yugi sighed and tried to calm down. His heart was racing from this morning's events, and he had to figure out what to do with Yami while he was at school. Yugi walked downstairs and put some toast into the toaster while he greeted his grandfather. "Morning Grandpa," Yugi said as cheerfully as possible. "Good morning Yugi," he responded. "Say Yugi, are you alright? I heard you making some noise last night, is anything wrong?"

His grandfather's question made Yugi freeze for a second, but he quickly turned around with a smile on his face. "No, I'm fine Grandpa, just a little under the weather," Yugi lied. He grabbed the strawberry jam from the pantry and began spreading it on top of the pieces of toast. "Are you sure? You never usually have four pieces of toast," he asked. Yugi paused once again, trying to think of a convincing story. "I've just been extra hungry, dinner didn't fill me up," he said, praying that his excuses would work. A concerned and suspicious look fell on his grandfather's face. "You were hungry after last night...when you ate three bowls of pasta?" His grandfather's interrogation was making Yugi anxious, and he looked towards his grandfather with his best 'innocent' expression. "Uhh...I'm having a growth spurt."

Yugi's grandfather stared at him, before smiling and laughing. "Finally! I thought you didn't have it in you Yugi," he said happily. Yugi gave a nervous laugh as he picked up his plate. "I'll just be up in my room then," Yugi said, and his grandfather nodded while picking up his newspaper. "Don't be late for school!"

When Yugi returned upstairs, he found Yami was reading the love note that Yugi had in his bag. Yami looked over to Yugi and smiled at the food. "Ah, breakfast has arrived!" he exclaimed cheerfully. He walked over and took a piece of toast, examining it and giving it a sniff. "What do you call this Yugi? It smells quite sweet."

Yugi knew he should be surprised, but he had become adjusted to Yami doing strange things after all the occurrences, and simply sighed while putting the plate down on his desk. "It's called toast with strawberry jam," Yugi said defeatedly. Yami took a small bite and widened his eyes. "This is amazing! It's sticky like honey, but dry at the same time. You must be very rich to enjoy delicacies like this Yugi," Yami said in amazement. "Not really, this is what most people eat for breakfast. Strawberries are my favourite," Yugi replied, making Yami smile. "So commoners eat this? You will have to teach me all about your world," he said happily, eager to learn.

The two boys enjoyed the toast while Yugi packed his bag, but Yami was still curious about the note. After licking his fingers clean he turned to Yugi, curious as to what he would answer. "Yugi, I found a note in your bag earlier, what was it?" he asked. Yami expected Yugi to go bright red again, but instead a goofy grin appeared on his face and his cheeks turned a light pink. "It's called a 'love note'. I wrote it to give to someone I like but..." Yugi's words trailed off and he began to look sad. "I don't know how they would feel about me, so I wanted to test their reaction by writing a note anonymously. I tried to give it to him, but he ran off. I doubt he thinks of me as more than a friend."

"He?" Yami asked. Yugi froze and held a hand up to his mouth, realising he had let his secret slip. Yami had a neutral expression on his face as he waited for Yugi to say something. Nervously, Yugi nodded and looked away from Yami's gaze. "Are you alright Yugi?" Yami asked, concern in his voice. "You seem embarrassed around me." Yugi fidgeted with his hands and tried to not look at Yami. "W-well, I just don't want you to think of me differently if I'm g-gay," he said quietly. Yami's expression turned confused. "Why would I think differently of you? I don't care if you prefer men, I prefer them too."

Yami's words only added to Yugi's embarrassment, and thoughts bounced around in his head. "Was he trying to come onto me this morning? Does he like me? Did he want me to see him naked? Does he think the love note is for him? Is he going to bring guys home? What am I going to tell Grandpa if he finds out?" Yugi thought, panicking at the situation. He felt relief that Yami did not care about his sexuality, but knowing Yami's made him nervous. He looked around the room, trying to think of something to break the silence in the room, when Yugi saw the time on the clock. "I'm going to be late!" Yugi shouted. He quickly knelt down and packed his bag before slinging it over his shoulder. "Yami, you have to stay hidden today, just come with me."

Yugi rushed downstairs, followed by a transparent Yami. "Have a good day," his grandfather said as Yugi ran out the door, chuckling to himself. Yami tried his best to keep up with Yugi, although he was mesmerised by the strange environment. "Where are we going Yugi?" he asked as he ran with the smaller boy. "To school, we have to hurry or I'm going to be late for homeroom. Just don't get into trouble or do anything suspicious, okay?" Yami nodded and smiled at Yugi. "Don't worry Yugi, I'm an Egyptian prince. I think I can handle myself."

* * *

Yami walked around the classroom curiously as Yugi scribbled in his book. "First I wake up to him holding me, then he reads my love note and tells me he's gay, then I get in trouble for being late, and now he's walking around like it's no big deal," Yugi yelled inside his head. Getting to school late always put him in a bad mood, but it was made worse by Yami's action. Every time Yugi tried to concentrate and work it would be interrupted by Yami walking in front of the board or talking to him, which Yugi couldn't respond to. He couldn't get his attention or tell him to stop either, and so Yugi sat there tortured by the thought of Yami being caught or doing something stupid.

Luckily, Yami had begun to inspect the back of the room, leaving the chalkboard unobstructed for Yugi. He began copying the notes on the board, but the school bell began to ring before he could write anything down. Yami looked around for the source of the sound, and nervously walked over to Yugi for protection. A few students walked through Yami as he stood by Yugi's desk, freaking Yugi out slightly. Katsuya packed up his notes and walked over to Yugi, standing next to Yami. "Are you alright Yugi? You don't seem yourself today," Katsuya asked, concerned for Yugi's wellbeing. "I'm alright Katsuya," Yugi replied. "Just had a rough morning."

"Cheer up Yugi, I have some good news! Ryou's here today and he has swimming with Marik next period, so you can slip the note in his bag and find out how he feels from Marik!" Yugi's face brightened a little and he smiled. "That is good news, but I'm a little nervous. Do you think maybe you can hide the note for me?" Yugi asked. "Sure thing Yugi," Katsuya replied. "That's what friends are for! You can repay me by helping me with my festival stall."

The two boys walked out of the classroom with Yami trailing behind. He seemed quite interested in the school, but was a little annoyed by all the talk of the love note. Yugi and Katsuya walked into their homeroom and sat down by their friends. Anzu and Marik were flipping through a fashion magazine together while Honda watched in confusion, and Ryou was reading a book while nibbling on some food. Katsuya gave Yugi a reassuring wink and sat down next to Ryou, looking over at the book he was reading. Ryou's bag was by his feet, so Katsuya strategically placed his bag down next to it. "Whatcha reading Ryou?" Katsuya asked, trying to not appear suspicious. He carefully lent down and unzipped his bag to get out his lunch, then unzipped a little of Ryou's bag while he wasn't looking. "Marik said you two were working on a festival store together and that he was thinking of cooking something, so I got him a cookbook from home to help. I'm just circling ones that won't burn down the stall," he said, not taking his eyes off the book. Marik's ears perked up at the sound of his name, and he handed the magazine he was reading to Anzu. "That was one time Ryou! One time! I would have thought my good friend would have some faith in my cooking skills," Marik said as he pouted. Ryou smiled a little and looked up at Marik. "What about the time you burnt cereal?" he asked, trying to provoke Marik.

The friendly fight between Ryou and Marik was the perfect distraction, and Katsuya quickly slipped the love note out of his pocket and into Ryou's bag, making sure to zip it back up. He took his lunch out of his bag and began to eat while watching Anzu and Honda try to calm Marik down. Katsuya shot Yugi a quick thumbs up, making Yugi smile. Yami's brow furrowed and he walked behind Marik to listen to the conversation. He stared at Ryou while the two boys were arguing, when Ryou suddenly looked up at Yami. His facial expression turned from joy to a mixture of surprise and shock when he spotted Yami, and Ryou then turned his gaze to Yugi who seemed oblivious. Ryou quickly gathered his things and stood up, causing the group to turn quiet. "Excuse me," Ryou said quietly as he rushed out of the room, leaving everyone confused.

Ryou's reaction to Yami confused him, and he double checked whether or not he was hidden. Yugi turned towards Yami with a befuddled look on his face, waiting for Yami to explain what happened. "I think...I think he saw me," Yami said, trying to figure out the situation. A sour look appeared on his face. "I'm going to go explore this 'school'," Yami said as he walked out through the wall, leaving Yugi with his friends. Marik was the first to break the silence as he joked to Anzu about Ryou having a small bladder, making the group laugh. "I wonder what's up with Ryou, he looked pretty sick this morning," Katsuya noted. Yugi shrugged his shoulders and began to eat his lunch in silence, praying that Ryou hadn't really seen Yami.

* * *

Yugi and his friends returned to class after the bell rang, although Ryou didn't return to the homeroom before the break ended. Having Ryou and Yami missing made Yugi worry and stress out, and he began to lose his focus in class. Katsuya shot him reassuring looks, but Yugi didn't seem very excited. After what seemed like hours the bell rang, and Yugi rushed out of the room with Katsuya to see what Marik had to say. When the two boys got into the homeroom they saw Anzu texting on her phone while Marik and Honda had a game of Duel Monsters on the desks. Katsuya patted Yugi on the back and sat down next to Marik, observing the game they were playing. "How was swimming?" he asked, trying to get Marik to talk about Ryou. "Pretty funny, Kaiba tried to act all high and mighty but ended up slipping into the pool," Marik said as he placed down a card. "You should've been there Katsuya," Anzu said while giggling. "He stormed off halfway through the lesson and didn't come back, serves him right for being such a jerk." Katsuya kept smiling, trying his best to not look suspicious with his questions. "Did Ryou end up going to class?" he asked casually.

"I haven't seen Ryou since he left during break. He looked pretty sick yesterday," Marik said, summoning a monster. "I think theres been a virus going around or something, I felt pretty bad yesterday too." Yugi fidgeted with his hands and began to feel nervous. Katsuya had definitely placed the note in his bag, meaning that Ryou would most likely discover it on it's own instead of around Marik or someone else. If Ryou read it and didn't like it, he most likely wouldn't mention it, and so he wouldn't be able to tell if he should confess or not. The complexity of the situation began to stress Yugi out, and he simply took out his lunch and ate it while watching Marik play against Honda. Katsuya tried to cheer Yugi up by patting him on the shoulder, but Yugi just wasn't feeling it.

Yugi finished his lunch while Marik and Honda disputed the rules, leading to Katsuya stepping in as a referee. Although his friends seemed to be having fun, Yugi just couldn't get into the spirit after what had happened. He packed his bag and walked out, searching for Yami so he could talk to him. Yugi wasn't sure where to begin looking, so he wandered the halls while looking into the classrooms. Eventually he came across an empty room, in which Yami was standing, still transparent. Yugi slid open the door and Yami turned around, slightly surprised by the sudden noise. "Yami? What have you been doing?" he asked the spirit, confused as to why he was alone and not exploring the school. "Yugi, come look at his," Yami said in a serious tone as he pointed out the window. Yugi walked over and looked out of the window beside Yami. Outside there were a few students enjoying lunch, but nothing out of the ordinary. "What is it Yami?" he asked, unable to see what Yami was referring to. "Look, just between the two trees. It's a red string."

It was a little hard to see from the second story window, but as Yugi focused his eyes he could make out a small string that seemed to be floating in mid-air. "Is that a spirit string?" Yugi asked as his eyes widened. Yami nodded and leaned on the window frame. "Spirit strings are usually invisible, however they can be made visible if desired. The fact that we can see it means that there is another spirit here somewhere." Yugi looked out of the window to try and see where the strings went, but the view from the classroom wasn't very good. Yugi went to ask Yami if they should follow it, but was interrupted by the ringing of the school bell. "I've got one last class until school ends, so I can't go searching for them now. It would be best if you stayed with me until we can find out who it is together. If we see the string after school we can go looking, but for now we shouldn't split up." Yami nodded in agreement, and the two boys made their way to class. Although Yugi was still upset about Ryou, he felt some comfort in his newly blooming friendship with Yami.

* * *

Yugi was distracted in his final class of the day, as he thought about who the string might belong to. Yami inspected the students and teacher, but it was no one he had class with. Time seemed to slow down and it felt like hours had passed by the time his class was over. Yami stood next to Yugi as he packed his bag, keeping a watchful eye. "We should stand near the entrance to the school, that way we can catch them," Yami said, serious about catching the spirit and their hikari. Yugi nodded and stood up to leave, but Katsuya wrapped an arm around his shoulder and began walking out with him. "So Yugi, Marik and I have decided on the theme of the stall, but I'm gonna need your help picking out a food we can make. Ryou gave Marik some recipe ideas, but I'm having trouble deciding on what to do. Can you make some recommendations?"

Katsuya gave Yugi a huge smile, making him sigh. The two walked out of class and towards the gate, talking about Katsuya's festival stall. "If no one else has signed up for it, you could make fortune cookies and then write a special one for Marik," Yugi suggested as he stopped by the school gate.

"Did someone say my name?"

Yugi quickly turned around and saw Marik running up to Katsuya, smiling. "I had a few ideas-" Marik's words halted and his smile quickly faded as he stared directly at Yami. Yugi looked between the two, surprised at Marik's reaction, when suddenly he was reminded of the spirit string he had seen. Although it was hard to see, Marik did appear to have a small red string attached to him. As if on cue, a tall boy walked up to Marik and stood by his side, a bored appearance on his face. His skin was tanned like Marik's, although his blonde hair was spiked up similar to Yugi's and Yami's. Yami motioned for Yugi to do something, causing the smaller boy to snap into action. "Sorry Katsuya, we've got to go!" he yelled as he grabbed Marik's arm and ran out of the school. Yugi's body was pumping with adrenalin as he ran, praying that Marik wasn't going to freak out and tell people. The four boys ran together until they were no longer in Katsuya's sight, stopping in a nearby park. Yugi and Marik puffed as they caught their breath, while Yami and Marik's spirit seemed unaffected by the running.

"Can you...see him?" Yugi asked, panting heavily from the exercise. He gave himself a mental kick for playing Duel Monsters instead of doing gym class. "Yeah. I thought I was the only one," Marik replied as he wiped his forehead. "I guess I should introduce myself," the tanned spirit announced, somewhat lacking in emotion. "I'm Malik." Yami extended his arm and the two spirits shook hands, though Yugi couldn't tell whether they were doing it out of respect or politeness. "Yami," he said as he shook Malik's hand. The two spirits stared at each other, as if they were two wild animals trying to see who was the alpha. While the two yamis sized each other up, Marik and Yugi tried to figure out the situation. "So we both have spirits...do you know if anyone else has them?" Yugi asked, trying to learn what was going on. "Not that I know of," Marik answered. "I didn't see anyone with a spirit string, so I thought it was just me and Malik. Do you think there might be someone else?" Yugi shrugged his shoulders. "Hard to say, although we don't really know whats causing this all of a sudden. Why didn't you say anything if you suddenly discovered you had a ghost following you?"

"Well you didn't say anything either," Marik said as he poked his tongue out. "No one would believe me if Malik was invisible, and if they could see him then they'd probably be suspicious that a clone of me showed up." "That's true..." Yugi said. It did make sense that Marik wouldn't tell anyone, although Yugi found it a little funny since Marik was known for gossiping and telling people what he'd found or heard. "I suppose we should try and figure this out," he suggested. Marik nodded and opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted when Katsuya ran into the park. The two boys jumped in surprise, but Yami and Malik were thankfully still transparent. "Who's this kid? Is this the one you're working with?" Malik asked. Marik shot him a dirty look, but Malik didn't see it as he was too busy inspecting Katsuya. "He's a bit scruffy, like a pet dog."

"Why'd you two run off like that?" Katsuya asked, obviously pissed off. Yugi and Marik looked at each other, then back to Katsuya, trying to think of excuses. "Yugi was trying to show me..." Marik said, trying to think of something that would work. "Duel Monsters!" Yugi shouted suddenly. "I remembered that I wanted to show Marik a new rare card that Grandpa got!"

"Why didn't you bring me then?" Katsuya asked with a hurt look. "You know I love Duel Monsters." Yugi bit his lip, unable to think of anything to say, but Marik had him covered. "It was a special card that we wanted to get you for your birthday," Marik said, trying his best to lie. A confused look appeared on Katsuya's face. "My birthday was last month."

"It only just came in, it was meant to be a late present," Yugi said, desperate to escape from the situation. It didn't help that Yami and Malik were standing by Katsuya, waving their arms through his body and generally joking around, making Yugi more stressed. "We really need to leave Katsuya-"

"No, you don't think I don't know what this is?" Katsuya shouted at Yugi, making him take a step back. "I tell you all my secrets and then you go and do something like this to me? Screw you Yugi, I can't believe you would just betray me like this!" Katsuya looked at Marik to say something hurtful, but instead looked away with an expression of pain. Tears began welling in his eyes, and Katsuya finally turned and began running away. Yugi reached his arm out, but Katsuya was too fast and ran out of the park and back towards the school.

Yugi had never been yelled at like that before. He had been bullied, made fun of, ordered around and beat up, but he had never been shouted at by his best friend. He could feel the tears welling in his eyes, and tried to wipe them off with his sleeve. Yami noticed Yugi's crying and quickly walked over, kneeling down to check on him. "Are you alright?" he asked. Yugi stared at Yami, surprised by his consideration and concern. The smaller boy nodded and fixed himself up, turning towards Marik. "What do we do now? Should we head to my house and try to figure out what's going on?" Yugi asked. "That sounds like a good idea," Marik replied. Malik groaned in the background, but Marik shot him a dirty look again. "Don't be so rude!"

* * *

Marik sat backwards on Yugi's desk chair, resting his chin on the back, while Malik sat on the floor beside him. Yugi was sat down on his bed, Yami by his side, trying not to look embarrassed as he remembered the earlier events that had occurred in his bed. "I guess the first thing I noticed was pain when I put the pyramid necklace on," Yugi said as he explained the events leading up to the appearance of his spirit. "Yami said that it was called the 'Millennium Puzzle'." "Oh, Malik said something like that too!" Marik shouted as he remembered something. "I had a weird headache feeling when I held that rod you gave me, Malik called it the 'Millennium Rod'. I can't put it down too far away or it starts to really hurt me."

"You can stop holding yours?" Yugi asked, curious about the properties of each of their items. Both Millennium items appeared to act differently, although they were still the same vessels for spirits like Yami and Malik. "I can't even take mine off. If I didn't wear button up shirts, I would be doomed." Marik laughed at Yugi's joke, although Yami and Malik didn't seem to get it, and simply stared each other down as they had done so before. "Oh, that reminds me," Yugi said in a moment of realisation. "You said that you felt weird when you held the Millennium Rod, but you never told me when exactly Malik appeared. Maybe that would have some clues as to what this is all about?"

Marik thought for a second before smiling with a determined look. "Yeah, that could work. If our stories match up, it might help us mind more spirits or figure out what to do from now on." Marik stood up and turned the chair around, then sat down in a regal and thoughtful manner, making Malik roll his eyes. "Now let's see...it all began when I got home from school yesterday..."


	4. Chapter 4: The Previous Day

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of the characters. I also do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged or any of the characters. The only rights I own are to my own original characters. I do not gain any money from this work.**

 **Note: Check out the poll on my profile, it would help a lot to improve my stories!**

* * *

Although the class Marik had was quite laid back and had a fairly carefree teacher, he still managed to grow bored. Anzu had been giggling with her group of female friends, and despite the fact that Marik loved hearing juicy gossip, he just wasn't feeling up to it. The stomach pains had been getting worse since the morning, and his back was beginning to become a problem too. "Maybe I'm pregnant," he thought to himself with a laugh. Leaning back in his chair wasn't making him feel any better, so Marik leaned forward and sat his head on the cool wooden desk. His head was tilted towards the side, and he watched as a few students began putting their books into their bags. The teacher stopped writing on the board and began wishing everyone a good afternoon, followed shortly after by the ring of the school bell. Marik forced himself to sit up and pack his belongings up, sighing as he dreamed about getting home and jumping into bed.

Anzu said goodbye to all her friends and walked over to Marik, eager to talk. "Ugh, I'm so glad the day is over! I think I'll treat myself to a cold treat from the vending machine today," she said, pulling out her phone to text people. Marik stood up and walked out of the classroom with her, eventually walking out the gate and towards their houses together. Anzu kept multitasking, alternating between texting her other friends and talking to Marik excitedly.

"So I volunteered to help out with the maid café, they had me try on a few different sizes but they thought it looked good, so that's going to be a blast! Not only will I get to look cute and eat all the delicious leftover cakes, but it might even be a good chance to find someone special," Anzu said, chatting away happily while the two walked home. "It would be so romantic to find someone at the festival, I mean just think about it. He'll see me serving customers and request me specifically, then after he's done eaten he'll thank me for the delicious cake and ask to meet me after I'm done somewhere in private. Then we can watch the fireworks together and I'll finally get my first kiss!"

Marik chuckled at Anzu's plans. "It sounds like you've got this all sorted out in your head," he said while giving her a playful smile. "I've got to be prepared Marik, just in case one of the guys I have my eye on asks me out. Speaking of the festival, apparently there's a whole bunch of girls that are interested in you, hoping you'll ask them out at the festival. I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding someone," she said, laughing while winking. "Anyone in specific you're thinking about confessing to?"

Anzu's question threw Marik off a little, and he thought about it for a second. "Well, not really. I just haven't thought about that sort of thing, I've just been planning my stall with Katsuya."

"You're such a heartbreaker," Anzu replied with a chuckle. She continued talking, listing off all the guys she was hoping would ask her out, and generally discussing her hopes and dreams for the festival. Marik began to tune out what she was saying, and thought about Anzu's question more carefully. "It's not like I don't find anyone attractive, but if I did come home with someone Rishid and Ishizu would probably lose it and treat me like a child. Besides, not many people are my type anyway, I'd need someone strong and loyal, but not afraid to be themselves around me. If I had to pick someone though," Marik thought to himself. A name popped into his head suddenly, causing his tanned skin to turn slightly pink. "Someone like-"

"Marik, you're walking the wrong way," Anzu said, waking Marik up from his thoughts and daydreams. "Sorry," he replied, scratching his head. "Thanks for reminding me, I'll see you tomorrow." The tanned boy turned down the right road and began walking away while Anzu waved at him. "I'll text you later!" she shouted happily before walking off on her own. Anzu's words made Marik chuckle slightly. "I don't doubt that!"

* * *

As Marik opened the door he saw Rishid watching the news, a typical blank expression on his face as usual. Ishizu walked out of the kitchen wearing a long apron and holding a spatula. "Welcome home," she said cheerfully as Marik entered. Ishizu noticed the strained expression on Marik's face and walked over to check on him. "Are you alright? You look a little pale," Ishizu asked as she checked Marik's temperature. The tanned boy gave a weak smile and batted his sister's hand away. "I'm just a little sick, I'd like to nap if that's alright," Marik said. Ishizu nodded and patted his head. "I'll leave some dinner in your room in case you don't wake up, just make sure you eat."

Marik nodded and walked up to his room, relieved to be able to get some sleep. He threw his school bag onto the floor as he entered the bedroom and began stripping out of his uniform, looking around the room as he did so. The room was quite basic, considering that Marik was living with his two older siblings and as such they didn't make much money, but he had managed to make it look quite nice. On one side was his comfy bed and a small desk, covered in Duel Monster related items and school work, and on the other was a bookshelf and chaise lounge for reading books and manga.

Once Marik had slipped out of the last of his clothing and placed it into the wash basket he jumped into his bed and began getting comfortable. The cold sheets helped him cool down after a long day at school, and he tossed in the bed as he tried to find the sweet spot. When he found the spot he was looking for, Marik closed his eyes and gently sighed, trying to relax himself. He listened to the birds chirping outside and the faint sound of the television, sinking deeper into his relaxed state with each passing moment. Finally, after a few minutes of lying in bed, Marik's breathing slowed and he began to rest.

* * *

The room was cold and dark when Marik woke up, and he sat up as he tried to get a better look. A faint light poured into the room, illuminating the situation for Marik. He gasped as he looked down and realised that he was no longer in his bed, but in a strange glass object. Marik stood up and walked to the edge of the glass, pressing his hands against the cold material. He turned around looking for a way out, when something slowly began pouring onto his head. Marik looked up at the top of the glass object and saw another glass object attached, with a small hole in-between. The glass above him was filled with sand, and it appeared to be some sort of hourglass hanging in an infinite darkness.

Sand continued to fill Marik's half of the hourglass, causing him to panic. He began banging on the glass, trying to shatter it to escape, but it appeared to be useless. The sand had filled up to Marik's knees, and he looked up to see how much sand was left, hoping that he could climb up and escape. In the glass above he spotted a figure, very similar in appearance to himself. The person moved around in the sand above, looking for a way out of the object, when he spotted Marik below. He was much taller than Marik and appeared more masculine, although his hair was spiked up similar to Yugi's. The two made eye contact, staring at each other as the sand drained from the top of the hourglass. The person's eyes went wide and he pointed towards the hole connecting the two, confusing Marik. Noticing that Marik didn't seem to understand, the person rolled their eyes and leaned down, placing their hand through the hole.

Once Marik understood that they were trying to help pull him through, he started trying to climb the sand pile towards the top. The sand was quite slippery and unstable, causing Marik to slide back down or sink into the pile of sand. Most of the sand had fallen through into Marik's half of the hourglass, and he struggled to stay on top. The person reached out as far as they could, trying to grab Marik's hand. Marik fought as hard as he could to reach the top, and with a few well-placed steps he managed to grab the person's hand.

As soon as Marik grabbed the other person's hand, the glass around them shattered and they both began to fall, hand in hand. The sand that had almost covered Marik fell away into the abyss below them, and it was as if Marik was watching his own death in slow motion. He looked towards his lookalike, fear in both of their eyes, when suddenly the light went out and Marik lost consciousness.

Marik sat up in his bed and quickly reached for his bedside light, desperately trying to turn it on. Light flooded the room as Marik managed to flip the switch and he gave a sigh of relief knowing that he was finally free from the dream. Although there weren't any monsters or ghouls or scary clowns, Marik was still quite frightened by the dream, and was glad that it was over. He looked towards the desk next to his bed, on which Ishizu had placed some dinner and a glass of water. Marik reached over and took a big drink, noticing that the dream had given him a dry mouth, and looked towards the clock he had. It was quite late in the night, about midnight, meaning that Rishid and Ishizu would most likely be in bed by now.

A faint rustling noise disturbed Marik as he drank, and from what he could tell it sounded like bedsheets moving next to him. They didn't own any pets and the window was closed shut, so Marik quickly turned around, expecting a wild animal or perhaps an intruder. As Marik turned around he saw the familiar blonde locks, tanned skin and masculine face from his dream, and gave a loud gasp. The person sat up in Marik's bed and rubbed his eyes with his palms, appearing to be dazed and sleepy. The two locked eyes and sat in the bed together, too confused to say anything or move in the slightest. They stared at each other for what felt like hours, before the strange figure broke the silence.

"You must be my new hikari. I'm Malik," he said with a straight, unamused face. Malik's words snapped Marik out of his shocked phase, and he jumped out of the bed, covering himself with his pillow. "H-how the hell d-did you get in h-here?" Marik asked as he tried to figure out the situation. Malik gave him a confused look, as if Marik was the one acting strange about everything. "The Millennium Rod," Malik answered, pointing to the golden rod sticking out of Marik's school bag.

At first Marik had felt shocked, scared and fearful at the stranger in his bedroom, but the relaxed attitude of the intruder began to make Marik more angry than concerned. "What do you mean the rod? People don't just jump out of objects and climb into other people's beds!"

Marik's raised voice made Malik a little startled, but he soon regained his composure. "I'm not a person, I'm a spirit that's been possessing the rod for thousands of years. By holding the rod you summoned me out of it, that's why I look so much like you." Marik listened angrily while he tried to dress himself behind the pillow. Once he was decent again, Marik turned towards Malik and placed his hands on his hips. "So you're just some magical genie that I created by touching a golden stick? I hope you've got some way to prove all this," Marik asked with an annoyed look. Malik gave him a gentle yet malicious smile and got up. He walked towards the door while chuckling, before turning transparent and walking straight through the wood. Marik's jaw dropped and he ran out to catch Malik before he revealed his presence to anyone.

By the time Marik had opened the door and looked outside, Malik was already gone, and in place a small thread hung in the air. Marik examined the string, which appeared to be connected to the centre of his chest, and as he looked at it he noticed it trailing off into Rishid's room. "Crap," he whispered as he ran towards the room and swung open the door.

Inside the room Rishid sat in bed with the light on, reading some sort of book, while Malik stood by the bed and looked at what he was reading. Malik's body was almost invisible but still noticeable, but Rishid didn't appear to notice the taller boy at all. "Can I help you Marik?" Rishid asked, putting his book down and crossing his arms. Rishid was usually very serious and hated being disturbed, meaning that he would expect Marik to only come in if it were serious. "T-the s-spirit," Marik exclaimed weakly, mixing up his words. Rishid's expression changed from unamused to a frown, and he rubbed his temples to try and calm down. "Marik, for the last time, ghosts aren't real. I told you not to come in here unless it's serious."

Malik tried to hold in his laugh as he walked out the door and back towards Marik's room, taking great joy in seeing his hikari get in trouble. Marik quickly exited the room and closed the door before chasing the spirit back into his bedroom. Now that Malik had proven that he was a spirit he decided to explore his new companion's room, eager to see where he would be living. "It's a pretty nice room you've got here," he said cooly as Marik entered the room, clearly stressed out. "Your couch seems really cool."

Marik looked at the chaise lounge that Malik was talking about, and was suddenly filled with a feeling of admiration. "Yes, it is quite soft," Marik said proudly. "I use it all the time for thinking and reading, it even gave me the idea of starting a new evil club at school." Marik stood by the chaise lounge, happy to show off his prized possessions, before snapping back into reality. "Hold on a second, don't confuse me! You're the one who should be explaining things!"

Malik began rummaging around in Marik's closet while the smaller boy waited for his attention, a pouty but angry look on his face. "Hey, are you gonna-" Marik's words were cut off when Malik pulled out a book from the closet and began reading. He flipped through a few pages with a confused look on his face, then turned towards Marik. "What's this?" Malik asked as he held the book up for Marik to see. The page he had been looking at was a particularly steamy sex scene between two male characters, and the fact that Malik had discovered his secret yaoi collection made Marik's face go completely red. He snatched the doujinshi from Malik's hands and tossed it onto the chaise lounge, seething with rage. Malik noticed how angry Marik was becoming, and decided to sit down on the bed.

"I guess you're probably confused about all this, so if you want to ask me any questions, go ahead," Malik said in a calm tone. Marik squeezed his fists in anger, but then sighed and sat down on the desk chair, trying to relax. He took a big sip of water and a deep breathe, preparing himself to question Malik. Once he was ready, Marik turned towards the taller boy and looked him in the eye.

"You said that you came from the rod I have in my bag, what does that mean?" Marik asked, trying to understand the whole 'spirit' ordeal. "The object you have is called the 'Millennium Rod', it's an ancient Egyptian artefact that I sealed myself in to preserve my spirit. Powerful ghosts like myself can survive thousands of years if we seal ourselves away, and there is no better place to go than inside a Millennium item. The reason that they're so good for keeping spirits is because they're imbued with magical properties, which is why we get summoned with a whole bunch of powers."

"Powers?" Marik asked. "You mean like the weird string I saw between us?" Malik gave him a small nod. "That's what we call 'spirit string'. It binds us together and allows us to see where we are. We also have a number of different abilities, such as turning invisible to others. You're what's called a 'hikari', whereas I'm a 'yami'. All that means is that we're stuck together until this spirit string breaks, and I can only be seen by other yamis and hikaris. The Millennium items also have unique powers. For example, your Millennium Rod allows you to control the minds of others, but in return you yourself are controlled by it, and so you can't move too far from it without panicking and getting hurt."

"Why would I want to control people's minds though?" Marik asked. "And does that mean that there are more items with more powers?" Malik picked the rod up from Marik's school bag and placed it in his hands. "You don't have to at all, unless you want people to do stuff for you. It's mostly just to stop you from leaving the rod unattended, which may cause our spirit string to break. Some Millennium items have better magical powers than others. I know that there's one that increases your ability to win children's card games, and another one that can locate gay people."

"Sounds like I got lucky then I guess," Marik said, chuckling a little. "So I have to keep this rod near me, and I can control people with it, and now you're stuck with me until this string breaks?" He asked, trying to clarify the situation. Malik nodded and began to relax a little, trying to get comfortable in his new home.

"I guess we're going to be stuck together for quite some time, but that doesn't mean you have to stay around me. What are you going to do now that you're free?" Marik asked, curious as to what the spirit's plans were. The question confused Malik and he had to think for a second. "Well..." he said, trying to think. A thought ran across his mind and he blushed slightly, but turned his head so Marik wouldn't see. "I don't really know," Malik said, trying to hide his reaction. "I guess I don't have anything to do, so I'll just follow you around."

Malik looked away from Marik, hoping that he wouldn't notice something was up, but was surprised when Marik reacted with great joy. "This is perfect! Just think of all the amazing plans we can create, all the things we can do together! It'll be like having a clone of myself to hang out with. You'll have to come with me to school tomorrow, you can go explore it while I'm in class and then we can organise it so you can do stuff while I'm stuck in class."

The positive reaction to Malik's presence and ability made him smile, although he quickly hid it so that Marik wouldn't see. "You better go to bed then, so tomorrow will come sooner," Malik said as he got off the bed. Marik gave Malik a huge smile and climbed into bed, taking off all his clothes except his boxers. Once in bed he moved into a comfy position, and Malik sat down on the desk chair. "Malik?" Marik asked, trying to get the taller boy's attention. "Can I ask you one last thing before bed?"

"Sure," Malik said as he tried his best to appear calm and collected once again. Marik looked up at the ceiling, closing his eyes slightly. "It's just that, well, I don't want to get into any trouble, because we look so similar and people might not know you're someone else. Can you promise not to be seen by anyone?"

Malik chuckled a little and gave Marik a weak smile. "I promise," he replied, making Marik smile. "Thank you," he whispered as he rolled over and got comfortable in his bed, growing tired. "Goodnight Malik." The taller boy blushed a little and smiled, before lying back in the chair. "Goodnight Marik."

* * *

Yugi stared in amazement as Marik explained the previous day, although he made sure to not tell them about the yaoi collection in his closet. "Your Millennium item is so cool Marik! It's a shame you won't use it though," Yugi said happily. "I guess I'll only use it in an emergency, but yeah. I wonder, if we both have Millennium items, who else has them?" he wondered.

"What about Ryou?" Yugi asked. "I mean, he got sick too, and he touched one of the items. Do you think maybe he has a yami too?" Marik gasped in realisation, and jumped up and down in the chair. "That explains so much! Ryou probably has a super cool spirit following him around. I can't imagine what a taller, manlier version of Ryou would look like though," Marik said, making the group laugh.

The boys talked about their newfound spirits and Ryou with excitement, but Malik simply stared at the wall, thinking to himself. Marik's recount of what happened made him smile slightly, and he began to daydream about what Marik didn't include.

* * *

Malik sat on the desk chair, examining the dinner that had been left on the desk. It was a bowl of rice with vegetable curry poured on top in the shape of a rabbit, although Malik couldn't tell whether it had been made that way because Marik requested it or not. The meal appeared untouched, and Malik's stomach was growling from the thousands of years he had been waiting, so he took the opportunity to dig in. Marik lay in bed silently for a while, but while Malik was eating he noticed the smaller boy was quietly snoring, indicating that he was out cold. Malik finished up the meal and drank the rest of the water, before looking around the room again.

He picked up the doujinshi that Marik had thrown onto the chaise lounge and began reading it while sitting down and getting comfy on the lounge. Malik couldn't understand the language too well, as it took a while for him to get Marik's knowledge and understanding of things, but he could make out the story from the pictures. Malik read through a chapter in which two men began wrestling on a bed, amongst other things. At first Malik didn't understand what was going on, but once he turned the page and looked at the graphic drawings it dawned on him.

"This is a gay novel," he thought to himself as he blushed heavily. He quickly closed the book and tried to compose himself, but his curiosity got the best of him and Malik kept reading. He read page after page, addicted to the rush he felt from the images and story, and before Malik knew it he had finished the whole book. "Why would he have a book like this?" Malik thought, trying to figure out the situation. "Unless..." Malik stopped himself from thinking anymore, as he could feel his cheeks warming up. The thoughts he was coming up with made him dizzy, and he instead opened the closet to put the book back where he found it. The novel had been inside a strange box in the back of the closet, but when Malik reopened it to place the book back he found a large number of books similar to the one he had read.

Malik put the book back and walked over to Marik's bedside, examining the boy. "Is he really gay?" he thought to himself. He hated how excited he was about it, but at the same time it gave him hope. Malik couldn't resist the chance to touch Marik, and gently stroked the smaller boy's hair as he slept, making Malik blush more. "Even though he's loud and confusing, he's still really innocent," Malik whispered in his head. "I'm lucky that I got to be his yami. I promise you Marik, I'll protect you and stay hidden. I won't let this turn out like last time."

Marik twitched a little and moved around, but before Malik could pull his hand away in case Marik was waking up, the smaller boy grabbed it and began cuddling it, smiling as he slept. His eyes remained closed and his snoring continued, and it appeared as though he was still asleep. Malik allowed his hand to remain in Marik's grasp, although he was quite embarrassed by the way his body was reacting to it. After savouring the moment for a few seconds, Malik pulled his hand away and whispered goodnight, knowing that Marik needed his sleep.

Malik returned to the closet and pulled out a stack of books, ordering them by the numbers on the sides. He picked up the first one in what appeared to be a series and began reading, trying his best to learn what they were saying and taking note of what the people were doing. He curled up onto the chaise lounge and read through the books as quick as he could, as if he had become addicted. Malik read through the night, enjoying the collection of books Marik had. The more he read, the more excited he was, but the more tired he became, until eventually the tall tanned boy fell into a relaxed sleep on Marik's chaise lounge. Although he seemed quite troubled and confused, Malik was at least happy that he could protect Marik and be with him, and fell asleep smiling.


	5. Chapter 5: The Chemistry Of Love

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of the characters. The only rights I own are to my own original characters. I do not gain any money from this work.**

 **Note: I'm incredibly sorry about the late update, I've been really busy with schooling, sickness and Stardew Valley. I have however written up a lot of the plot and updated my LibreOffice, so updates should resume as usual.**

* * *

Although the two boys had been talking for a good few hours, Yugi was still intent on asking every question he could think of to figure out what to do with their situation. Marik's description of his nightmare and Millennium item only made Yugi more curious, which in turn generated more questions for him to ask. Yugi looked down at his own Millennium item, the Millennium Puzzle, wondering why exactly he had been granted such a gift.

"That reminds me Yami," Yugi said while staring at the golden pyramid around his neck. "If Marik's rod has the ability to control people, doesn't that mean this puzzle has a power as well?" Yami, who was sitting next to Yugi on the bed, crossed his arms and gave him a slightly surprised look. "Now that you mention it, I forgot all about the powers of the Millennium items. You already know you can go into the Millennium Puzzle while you sleep, but that's not it's main power."

"Your item is the most powerful, isn't it?" Malik asked. Yami nodded in response before adopting a thoughtful expression on his face. "Most of the Millennium items have a very distinct or specific power. Take Marik's Millennium Rod for example, only Marik can use it to order people around, and it puts them in a possessed state, so it can't change someone's personality or actions permanently. However, the Millennium Puzzle's power is very broad. It had the power to change the wielder's fate in their favour. While that is specific in the sense that only Yugi can benefit, it's effects can be permanent and it can do a number of things."

Yugi and Marik gasped at Yami's explanation, before jumping up and down with joy and squealing. "That's so cool Yugi!" Marik said excitedly. "You can basically do anything you want! What are you going to use it for?" Yugi stopped jumping and looked surprised for a second before thinking carefully about his new power. "Well, apart from making sure I don't fail school," Yugi answered with a giggle. "I'll probably keep it just for emergencies like your Millennium item. Changing fate sounds kind of dangerous."

Marik and Yugi laughed as they discussed their new powers, and the pleasant atmosphere even made Yami and Malik chuckle at times. The group of boys talked about their new lives and future plans for a few hours, but eventually Marik's family called him home and the two tanned boys left. The two boys, now left alone, talked through the night and continued the discussion about the Millennium items, with Yugi asking questions until they both became tired and weary. After crawling into bed together, Yugi dreamed about what tomorrow would bring, and fell asleep shortly after, ready for a new day.

* * *

Yami sat in Yugi's classroom with a bored expression on his face. He couldn't understand how Yugi could enjoy learning all these strange concepts for hours at a time, nor could he understand why he himself had to endure the torture of being subject to the teacher' lectures. The words from the teacher melted together into one incomprehensible sentence, causing Yami to sigh and search for something entertaining. He looked out the window and saw the fresh grass and beautiful trees, making him smile slightly. Egypt looked so much different, and although he missed home quite a lot, Yami was eager to explore the new world that he had been exposed to. Yami waved over to Yugi to get his attention, and once Yugi looked up he gestured to himself and the door. Yugi frowned slightly, but after a moment nodded and returned to his studies. Yami was happy that he could roam around, and quickly walked through the door and into the hallways.

Yugi's school seemed like a never ending maze to Yami, and he walked around while trying to figure out the size of the building. To make things even harder to remember, the school had multiple buildings and multiple stories, so it was easy to get lost. Luckily, Yugi had shown Yami how to get to his homeroom from the front of the school, so Yami only needed to locate the entrance to get back to Yugi. If everything else failed, Yami could always make their spirit string visible, and follow that back to Yugi.

Yami seemed to have wandered for a good hour, and found himself lost by a series of empty classrooms. The bell rang through out the school, indicating that Yugi's class was over and that he would be in the homeroom for break time. There were no windows in the hallway, but Yami could see that there were some in the classrooms, so he picked a random room and looked inside.

Inside the room were a number of tables with sinks and stools, as well as a shelf full of interesting objects. Yami walked over to the glass cabinet and observed the objects inside, curious as to what they were. There were a number of rocks with bones inside, glass containers filled with brightly coloured liquids, and some plastic balls attached to each other in different ways and structures. Yami stared curiously at the contents of the shelf, then turned around and began inspecting the rest of the room, hoping to find more objects of interest.

On the back wall of the room was a large bookcase which held hundreds of different books. The top shelves contained thick, older looking books, whereas the bottom had much smaller and better condition books. Yami went to grab a small book in his transparent state, but his hand simply went through it, surprising him a little. "If I want to touch anything I'll have to turn visible, but Yugi told me not to," Yami thought to himself. He stood up and looked around the room, checking to see whether anyone was watching or not. When Yami was confident that he couldn't see anyone watching he closed his eyes and turned visible, making him jolt a little. It was always a weird feeling switching between his ghost and human forms.

Yami excitedly turned back to the books on the lower shelf, and picked out one that he could understand. He still had trouble reading a lot of Japanese words, especially kanji, but the book he had picked was filled with pictures and only used simple hiragana. He flipped through the book and stared at the pictures. The page he had turned to showed a diagram of two liquids being poured into a glass together to form a new liquid. There were a series of numbers and letters that Yami couldn't make sense of, but the simple text on the side read "chemical reactions". Yami continued reading the book, curious as to what magic the book was documenting.

"Excuse me?" said a gentle and quiet voice, causing Yami to jump and drop the book on the floor. He quickly spun around and saw Ryou, Yugi's albino friend. The small boy giggled a little at Yami's surprise and began fiddling with his hands. "S-sorry to interrupt you, I just needed to return a few books," he said as he walked over to the bookshelf. Yami was still panicking, trying to think of a way out of the situation. Turning transparent again wasn't an option as it may freak Ryou out or cause Yugi and himself to get caught, and he couldn't run out of the classroom because it would be strange, not to mention he still needed to figure out where he was in the school.

Ryou began placing some books back into the bookshelf when he noticed the book that Yami had been reading. "O-oh, are you into chemistry too? I don't think I've seen you in class before," Ryou said nervously. Yami knew that he had to play along until Ryou left, so he put on his bravest face and tried to appear casual. "Oh yes, I think it's very interesting. I'm not actually in this school yet, I was just...seeing whether I should go here." Ryou smiled nervously and looked away from Yami, his pale face making his blush more obvious. "W-well if you do come here, I-I'd be happy to help you with chemistry," he replied as he finished placing the books on the bookshelf. Ryou turned to Yami nervously and stared at him, making Yami panic slightly.

"Are you related to Yugi?" Ryou asked curiously. Yami froze and struggled to think of an answer. If he said yes then Ryou might tell Yugi about him, but if he answered no then he would have to make an excuse as to why they looked similar. Yami scratched his head nervously and thought for a second, before coming up with the perfect answer. "U-um, no, we just go to the same hairdressers." Ryou stared at Yami with a blank expression on his face for a second, before laughing and rubbing his head. "S-sorry to ask such a weird question, now that you mention it you two do look quite different." The bell marking the start of class began to ring, causing the two boys to jump slightly. Ryou blushed a little and looked down at his feet. "U-um, I hope you consider joining this school!" he said with a stutter as he bowed and walked out of the room quickly, leaving Yami standing there confused. Once Ryou had left the room he turned transparent to avoid being caught again, then sat down and gave a sigh of relief.

"That turned out better than expected," he mumbled to himself. "Hopefully Ryou won't tell Yugi, I don't want him to get in trouble or get caught up in rumours. I need to be careful, he already spotted me in the homeroom once, so I'll have to avoid him from now on." Yami stood up, filled with the determination to not get caught, and began walking out of the classroom. Halfway out the door, Yami stopped and dragged himself back into the classroom and towards the window. "I almost forgot, I'm lost..."

* * *

After class had started, Yami made his way back to Yugi's homeroom. Yugi's class had swimming, so Yami took the opportunity to relax in the homeroom and possibly take a nap. As he began passing through the door, Yami heard a familiar voice, and quickly backed up and turned around. "Hey," shouted Malik as he waved at Yami. Yami's fear quickly disappeared and he turned towards Malik to talk to him. "What's up Malik?" he asked, curious as to what Malik wanted from him.

"I saw you get caught by Ryou in the classroom, I think we need to talk about him," he said as he walked through the door and into the classroom. Yami followed behind and the two sat down at a desk. "How did you see us? I looked everywhere and never saw you," Yami asked, confused as to Malik's words. Malik simply leaned back in his chair with a careless expression and began to explain. "Spirits only have two states: invisible and visible. When invisible we can walk through physical objects, but the downside is that we can still be seen by other yamis and hikaris. However, we can still hide. I overheard you and Ryou talking through the wall, so I went into the other classroom and through the wall, allowing me to hide behind the teacher's desk. What I'm trying to say is that you can still hide in rooms, even if people can see you."

Yami nodded thoughtfully as Malik continued talking. "That being said, I think there's a bigger problem. When Yugi explained how you got summoned, he mentioned it was after he put on the Millennium Puzzle, which made him feel sick. Not only did Marik and Yugi get Millennium items, but Ryou did too." Yami began to understand what Malik was talking about and leaned forward. "You don't think..." he said, trailing off as he thought about the possibilities. Malik nodded. "Ryou felt sick the day he put on the Millennium Ring and went home. Then the next day he saw you while you were transparent and left. Ryou has to have a yami from the Millennium Ring."

The two sat in silence as Malik relaxed in his chair and Yami thought everything over. "If Ryou has a yami, surely he would have approached Yugi about this earlier. I mean, if he knew about the Millennium items, he would have said something to Yugi when he saw me and realised how similar we are." Malik shrugged. "It's possible that Ryou wasn't sure whether you were Yugi's yami, he did ask if you two were related." "That's true," Yami responded, wondering about Ryou and his reactions.

"That isn't the main problem though. Let's say that Ryou does have a yami and it's from the Millennium Ring. Is it not suspicious to you that we haven't seen this yami around?" Malik asked, his voice and facial expression turning serious. "For all we know, Ryou's yami could be walking around the school while visible. If people were to find out about this, the consequences could be a lot more serious than we think. People might start saying that Yugi and Marik are cheating with our help, they might bully or harass them, or they might even get priests and government officials involved."

"So what you're saying is, Ryou's yami might pose a threat to our secrecy, and we need to find him?" Yami asked. "Exactly," Malik replied, smirking a little. "Once we get everyone up to date on the situation, then we might be able to reveal ourselves to other students, but for now we need to get Ryou and his yami on our side."

The boys were interrupted by the sound of the school bell, indicating that class was over and that Yugi and his friends would be returning to the homeroom for lunch. "Follow me," Malik said as he pulled Yami's arm towards him. Malik turned transparent and entered the closet next to the desks that Yugi and his group sat at. Yami followed Malik's instructions and the two stood in the closet, waiting for their hikaris to return.

A few students entered the room and sat by the windows to eat lunch, followed by Yugi, Marik, Anzu, Honda and Ryou. Yami and Malik watched through the holes in the closet, eager to observe Ryou. The group sat down at the desks next to the closet and began unpacking their bags for lunch. Honda and Marik pulled out their Duel Monsters cards and began setting up a game while the rest of them got out their lunches and began eating.

"It was pretty good that they just let us have fun instead of doing laps," Yugi said happily, shaking the water out of his spiked hair, causing it to spray onto Ryou. The albino froze in surprise then shook his head, making Marik and Yugi giggle. "As fun as it is, it's terribly annoying to dry my hair afterwards," Ryou replied as he opened his swimming bag and pulled out a towel. As Ryou moved the towel to dry his hair a piece of paper fell off and landed on the desk, causing Yugi to freeze.

"Huh? A note?" Ryou said, confused as to how the piece of paper got into his towel. Marik put his cards down and looked over, curious as to what Ryou had discovered. "What is it Ryou? Is it a receipt?" Marik asked, causing Anzu and Honda to look over as well. Marik leaned towards Ryou as he opened the note, and Anzu walked behind him to get a better look. Ryou unfolded the note and began reading, turning red after a few seconds. Marik and Anzu gasped at the same time as they exchanged looks, before quickly jumping up and squealing in excitement.

"Oh my gosh Ryou, I can't believe you got a love note!" Marik shouted out of joy. Anzu, Honda and Marik pulled the note out of Ryou's hand and began reading it in detail. Their smiles widened with each new word, and once the group had finished reading the note they handed it back to Ryou and gave him celebratory hugs. "Do you know who it's from?" Anzu asked, desperate for details on Ryou's love life. The albino boy was still a bit shocked from the note, but shook it off and thought for a moment. "Well, it doesn't say who wrote it," he replied, trying to control his blush.

"But...I think I might know who." Anzu and Marik froze in place and looked at each other. The two of them spun Ryou's chair around and put one arm each on his shoulders, as if they were interrogating him. "Ryou. Details. Now," Marik said seriously. His eyes squinted and he tried his best to put on an intimidating face.

"W-well," Ryou began, looking down at his feet nervously. "I ran into someone while I was returning some books, and..." Ryou's words trailed off, and Marik slammed the desk in response, causing Ryou to jump. "And? And? Keep talking Ryou!"

"And...he was gorgeous!" Ryou shouted in embarrassment. Ryou stared at the floor, his face turning a deep shade of red, while Marik and Anzu squealed to each other and began freaking out. Yugi, who had been sitting opposite of Ryou the entire time, became silent and simply looked at the desk, shocked that his note had failed. "No, it didn't just fail," Yugi thought to himself. "It led to Ryou falling in love with someone else."

"He said he wasn't enrolled at the school yet though, so maybe he didn't write it," Ryou said weakly, making Anzu's ears perk up. "Maybe he's been here a few days and saw you earlier, so he decided to write you a note to see whether he should join!"

"Oh my god Anzu, can you imagine if he came here just for Ryou? It would be the ultimate love story!" Marik replied, barely able to hold his excitement in. While Anzu, Marik and Ryou dealt with the love note, Yugi sat at the desk with his head in his hands. He tried to keep himself calmed down to avoid being noticed, but couldn't help shaking slightly. Yugi reached for his school book and held it up so his friend's couldn't see his face. Tears welled up in his eyes but he managed to keep them from escaping and running down his face.

Yami had been watching the whole situation from the closet by the desks, and watching Yugi's heart break made him feel horrible. His hands began shaking and his heart felt heavy, but Yami couldn't figure out why. Sure, it felt horrible that he had in a way 'stolen' Yugi's crush, but it was out of his control. "Why do I feel so bad?" Yami thought to himself.

"It's your connection to him," Malik whispered. "Because we're connected by spirit string, we can share emotions, though they have to be strong for both of us to experience. Marik's excited about Ryou's crush, so I also feel happy. I take it that Yugi had a thing for Ryou, considering how upset he is. You feel sad because Yugi's sad, and when you feel strongly Yugi will be able to feel it too. It's a blessing and a curse."

"Even if I'm feeling Yugi's sadness, I'm sure that part of it is mine," Yami thought to himself, grabbing his shirt in an attempt to stop his heart from hurting. "Why am I upset?"

* * *

During lunch, Ryou had managed to avoid giving Marik and Anzu details into crush, knowing that they would probably go as far as to hand out flyers and put up posters if they discovered who it was. Yugi had managed to keep his emotions hidden from his friend group, and tried to distract himself from his sorrow by focusing on schoolwork.

Despite all that had happened Yugi did manage to keep his mind off of Ryou, and he studied hard until the bell rang, startling him slightly. He packed up his work and turned towards Katsuya's desk to talk to him, but Katsuya was nowhere in sight. "That's odd," Yugi thought. "Normally he texts me if he's not coming to school."

Yugi shrugged his shoulders and continued out the door, slowly walking through the corridors and out towards the main gate. Now that class was over there was nothing to distract him, and Yugi thought more about Ryou. "He said he was gorgeous...he's probably tall and handsome, nothing like me. God, I wish I had never written that stupid letter, then Ryou wouldn't be so interested in this new guy. It's not fair, I was here first, I've been trying to get Ryou's attention for ages, and he just walks in and steals Ryou's heart without warning."

Yugi's attitude changed to frustrated and he kept his eyes towards the ground. He kicked a nearby can with all his strength in an attempt to let some anger out. "If he breaks Ryou's heart, I'll be there to protect him," he thought bitterly.

"Oi, watch it!" said a familiar voice. Yugi stopped and looked up, noticing that the can he kicked had hit Katsuya, who was standing in the middle of the road, posing with his duel disk. "Oh, sorry Katsuya," Yugi said sheepishly. "I thought you must've been home sick."

"Yeah, I was home," Katsuya replied, resentment in his voice. "I've been crying all day because of what you and Marik have been doing behind my back! You knew how I felt about him from the start, and then you go and betray me like that!" Yugi was startled by Katsuya's anger, but also confused.

"What are going on about Katsuya?" he asked, making the blonde more annoyed. "Don't play dumb with me Yugi, I saw you talking to Marik at the school gate and in the park, you two have been messing around together behind my back!" Yugi realised what Katsuya was talking about.

"Katsuya, that wasn't what you think-" Yugi's words were cut off by Katsuya's shouting. "Of course you're going to deny it, even though I caught you red handed! If it's not what I think it is, then what is it Yugi? Why have you been talking with Marik secretly?"

Yugi looked around for Yami, but the spirit was nowhere to be seen. He didn't want to let Yami's secret out without asking, as he wanted to keep this in the dark as much as possible. "I can't tell you Katsuya," Yugi said weakly, knowing that it would make things worse. "But you have to believe me, please!"

Katsuya chuckled and shook his head before giving Yugi a serious look. "Yugi, I used to live on the street, and if there's one thing I learnt it's that if you want something, you have to fight for it. Of course, if I beat you up I'd get in trouble and probably put you in hospital, so I thought I'd make this a little more fair for you." Katsuya activated his duel disk and pointed dramatically at Yugi, a determined look on his face.

"Yugi, I challenge you to a duel!"


	6. Chapter 6: It's Time To Duel

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of the characters. The only rights I own are to my own original characters. I do not gain any money from this work.**

* * *

Katsuya stared into Yugi's eyes as he posed, trying to prove that he was determined to win. Yugi had been taken back by Katsuya's duel offer, and stood frozen in the road. If there was one thing Katsuya was known for, it was sticking to his word, so Yugi knew that there was no other way to convince him. He sighed and composed himself before staring back at Katsuya, trying to match his determination.

"Alright, if that's what it takes to convince you. If I beat you, will you believe me finally?" Yugi asked, crossing his arms. Katsuya smirked and relaxed his pose, putting his arm down. "If you manage to win then I'll believe you, but if I win our friendship is over and you'll have to admit everything." Yugi held his breathe for a second. Was this duel really worth risking their friendship?

"If I don't duel him, he won't let go of this, and it'll just convince him more," Yugi thought to himself. He closed his eyes and mentally prepared himself. After calming down, Yugi looked at Katsuya, fire in his eyes. "Alright Katsuya, I accept. Let's duel."

The two walked forward and shook hands, then walked back to make room for the Duel Monsters projection. Yugi opened his bag and retrieved his duel disk and Duel Monsters deck, which he kept close in case of situations like this. Meanwhile, Katsuya set up a small device in the middle of the road. When the device was activated, Katsuya stepped back, and a grid appeared between the two boys. Although it was only a projection, the fact that it was floating in midair made the grid appear as if you could reach out and physically touch it.

"I'll let you go first Yugi, you're going to need all the help you can get," Katsuya said as he chuckled. Yugi's eyes narrowed and he activated his duel disk, pulling out five cards. Yugi hated how Katsuya acted when he was trying to win, but he knew that he had to put up with it for the duel. "Alright, I'll start the duel simply for you. I'm going to place one card face down, and summon Ancient Elf in attack mode, then end my turn."

As Yugi placed the cards on the duel disk, the projector began whirring and blinking. The device scanned the cards that Yugi had played and then projected them onto the field. A face down Duel Monsters card appeared in front of Yugi, followed shortly by an elf wearing purple armour. The elf took a battle stance and held it's scepter tightly in it's hands, ready to fight. Katsuya drew another card for his turn, then began his turn.

"Let's go, Masaki The Legendary Swordsman!" Katsuya shouted as he placed the card in his duel disk. A green samurai appeared on Katsuya's side of the field, a calm but focused expression on his face. "Before I attack, I'm also going to equip him with Malevolent Nuzzler, increasing his attack points to 1800. Now, attack!"

The samurai stared deeply at Yugi's Ancient Elf, then drew his sword. The two monsters rushed towards each other, both ready to strike. Masaki slashed at the elf, cutting him clean in two. The Ancient Elf exploded into little particles, and Yugi's life points appeared his head, now down to 3650. Katsuya smiled, happy to get the first strike in, but Yugi was ready for his next move. "Your turn Yugi."

Yugi quickly drew a card and overlooked his hand. He had a few good cards, but he needed to set up a defense first. "I'm going to place two more cards face down, and then summon Mystical Elf in defense mode!" Yugi shouted. A beautiful woman rose up from the holographic grid, carrying a large staff in her hands. She gracefully floated for a few minutes, then adopted a casual position. "Now I'll place two more cards face down, then end my turn." Although Yugi was confident in his play, Katsuya gave him a huge grin.

"Alright, you asked for it. Masaki, attack Mystical Elf!" he shouted, pointing towards Yugi's monster. Masaki rushed forward, sword drawn and ready to strike, but the Mystical Elf held up her staff and blocked the attack just in time. Masaki pressed his sword as hard as he could, but the Mystical Elf refused to budge, and so he jumped back. Katsuya's grin had been erased, and replaced with a look of confusion. Now it was Yugi's turn to smile. "Sorry Katsuya, but even Masaki The Legendary Swordsman doesn't have enough attack points to destroy my monster. With Mystical Elf as my defense, you won't be able to attack my life points."

"Humph, very well. If I can't attack, then I'll just play another monster. I'll summon Big Eye in attack mode, then end my turn." A muscular, red monster covered in eyes jumped down onto the playing field, giving an audible 'thump'.

While Yugi and Katsuya had been busy dueling, Yami had been trying to find his hikari. Malik had shown Yami how to make their spirit string visible, and he had been using the trick to make his way back to Yugi. After a few more roads and turns, Yami finally reached Yugi and ran over to him, glad to be back. "Yugi, I-" Yami's words were cut off when he saw the strange holograms. Yugi's head whipped around and he gave an expression of shock to see his yami, but replaced it with a glad smile. "What's going on Yugi?" Yami asked. Knowing that Katsuya would be freaked out if he saw Yugi talking to himself out of the blue, he held his duel disk up to his mouth to cover it, pretending to calculate his next move.

"As it turns out, Katsuya thinks I've been running off with Marik behind his back. I know it sounds silly, but I have to beat him in this duel," Yugi explained, examining his cards while talking quietly. He thought back to when Katsuya and him were little, they were both exactly the same back then as they were now. If Yugi and Katsuya ever fought about something, they would duel to let of steam and settle arguments. Duel monsters had brought the two boys together from a young age, and was what started their friendship. Perhaps it was silly, but Yugi knew that settling an argument this way meant their friendship was still strong, which gave Yugi the determination to try even harder.

Yami looked at the battlefield, which had been filled with cards and monsters, and turned his attention back to Yugi. "Duel? You mean a magical duel?" Yami asked, but Yugi shook his head and gave Yami a serious look. "Theres a device in the middle of the field, which displays the monsters and so forth. Me and Katsuya are using devices called duel disks to play cards, and we have to try and defeat each other by lowering each other's life points. Of course we don't really die. Here, just watch me play my turn, then you'll get the gist of it." Yami nodded, although he was still a little uncertain, and began watching Yugi's movements.

"First I'm going to play Mystic Clown in attack mode, equipping him with Sword Of Dark Destruction. With this sword equipped, Mystic Clown will gain 400 attack points, enough to destroy your monster." A whimsical clown wielding a sword appeared on the field, surprising Yami a little. Katsuya scrunched his fists and growled, but Yugi stayed resilient. "Mystic Clown, attack Masaki The Legendary Swordsman!" he shouted, making the clown lunge forward. Katsuya's monster raised his sword, but the clown leapt into the air and slashed Masaki's sword clean in half, along with the rest of his body. Katsuya's monster exploded into small pieces and his life points reduced by 1000, leaving Katsuya at 3900 life points.

Katsuya looked annoyed that his monster had been destroyed, but a smirk appeared on his face when he drew his next card. "Alright Yugi, you think you've got the upper hand now? Have a taste of this! Time Wizard, I summon you!" An anthropomorphic clock appeared on the field, cartoon-like in appearance, and Katsuya gave Yugi a sly grin. "Although my Time Wizard isn't very powerful as a monster, it has a special ability that can wipe out all of your monsters! If my time wizard dial spins and lands on the winning spaces, your monsters will be toast!" Yugi took a step back and Yami watched intently, trying his best to keep up with what was happening. "Now Time Wizard, spin your dial!"

The Time Wizard held up his scepter and the dial on it began to spin. Katsuya and Yugi both looked intently at the dial, holding their breathe, until the spinner finally landed on Katsuya's winning space. Yugi braced himself as his monsters exploded from the field, pushing him back slightly with a gust of wind. "Big Eyes, use your opportunity!" Katsuya shouted, and the monster swung at Yugi with all of his might, taking Yugi's life points down to 2450. Yami looked at Yugi with a concerned look, and saw that he was slightly panicked.

"This isn't good," Yugi thought. "He's destroyed all of my monsters and I've barely attacked him at all. If I can't beat him...will he really follow through? Will he end our friendship?" Yugi was startled slightly when Yami placed his ghostly hand on Yugi's shoulder. Yugi stared up at the tall boy, but Yami simply smiled at him. "Yugi, you've taught me so much already. You've shown me amazing inventions such as 'pasta' and you've shown great concern for your friend. Back in Egypt we had a similar game to yours, cards and all. And although many people think that luck is the deciding factor, it isn't true. You need to believe in your monsters Yugi, and you need to believe in the heart of the cards. If you really value your friendship with Katsuya, the cards will help you win."

Yugi stared in awe at Yami's motivational speech, but Yami simply patted him on the back and took his place next to Yugi, grinning with confidence. Yugi stood there in thought for a moment, but finally nodded at Yami and turned back towards Katsuya, filled with newfound determination. "You might have the upper hand Katsuya, but I believe in my cards, and I believe in our friendship," he shouted, pulling a card from his deck. As if by magic, the card Yugi had drawn was perfect for his situation and he returned a sly grin to Katsuya. "I activate Dark Hole, which wipes out all of your monsters on the battlefield!" Yugi shouted, making Katsuya pause in shock for a second. A large black hole appeared in the middle of the field, pulling all of Katsuya's monsters towards it and destroying them. "Now that your monsters are gone, I summon Neo The Magic Swordsman in attack mode and attack your life points directly!"

The large swordsman swung his sword towards Katsuya, harmlessly passing through him and reducing his life points to 2200. Katsuya knelt down and shook his head for a second, trying to comprehend the situation and keep calm. He stood up again and gave a confident pose, but Yugi and Yami could tell that he was beginning to worry. "Alright then, I'll make a simple play. I place one card down and summon Baby Dragon, then end my turn." A small cartoon dragon appeared on his side of the field, which was no match against Yugi's swordsman. Yugi looked at the suspicious card Katsuya had placed down, before drawing a card from his deck and making his own play.

"Alright Neo The Magic Swordsman, attack Baby Dragon!" Yugi shouted. The swordsman rushed at the dragon, but quickly paused. "I think not Yugi," Katsuya said slyly. "I activate Waboku, meaning that my Baby Dragon is completely fine!" Yugi's swordsman jumped back into position on the field, and the dragon hissed at him quietly. "I need to put up my own defenses too," Yugi thought to himself. "Alright, I'll activate Monster Reborn and summon Mystical Elf in defense, then end my turn," he said neutrally. The tension between the two was incredible, and both Yugi and Katsuya were determined to win. Yugi felt some doubt lurk in the back of his head, but it vanished when he looked up and saw Yami's confident smile. "I can do this," he thought to himself.

"I'll match your play and activate my own Monster Reborn card, summoning Time Wizard again. I'm sure you already know this, but Time Wizard has a special effect when combined with Baby Dragon. I activate Polymerization and combine Time Wizard and Baby Dragon, fusion summoning Thousand Dragon!" The small dragon and wizard began to shine brightly as their forms combined, and after the polymerization was complete a large dragon stood on the battlefield, staring menacingly at the swordsman that had tried to attack him. "Attack Neo The Magic Swordsman!" Katsuya shouted as he pointed to Yugi's monster, but before the dragon could even move Yugi spoke up. "Not so fast Katsuya, I'm also going to match your play. I also summon Waboku, meaning that your attack doesn't work." Katsuya shot Yugi a dirty look, then angrily sighed. "Next turn Yugi, you're going to pay for that."

Although he knew Katsuya was just being thickheaded, Yugi once again felt doubt and sadness in his heart. "What if I can't do it?" he whispered gently to Yami, who quickly knelt down beside him. The taller boy stared into Yugi's eyes, watching them tear up slightly. It filled Yami with sadness to see Yugi this upset, although he couldn't pinpoint why, and instinctively reached out and grabbed Yugi's hand. "No matter what happens Yugi, things will be alright in the end. You just need to believe in yourself and trust me," he whispered gently, trying to console Yugi. He wiped away the tears and stood up, ready to give Katsuya one last push. He knew that this game was a risk and that it sounded silly, but he knew he couldn't give up hope. He had to believe in the heart of the cards.

Yugi drew a card and looked at it, contemplating what to do. Although it seemed like complete coincidence, Yugi had once again managed to pull the perfect card, and mentally cheered himself on. "Alright Katsuya. I think it's about time we ended this duel. I tribute Neo The Magic Swordsman and Mystical Elf, and use them to summon the Dark Magician!" Yugi's creatures exploded and their cards were sent to the graveyard, but were quickly replaced by a tall purple magician that appeared from a haze of darkness. Katsuya held his breathe in shock, knowing that Yugi had just played his trump card. "T-That's still not enough!" he shouted at Yugi, his voice shaking from fear. Yugi nodded, but looked at Katsuya with determination. "I know that my Dark Magician can't defeat your Thousand Dragon, so I'm going to equip it with Book Of Secret Arts before I attack." Katsuya grabbed at his hair in panic and shouted, but the Dark Magician made quick work of his dragon as it shot at it with magical spells. The large dragon shattered into pieces, as if fireworks were going off, and Katsuya's life points ticked down to 1800.

Katsuya became overwhelmed with emotion, and made his play without thinking, desperate to attack Yugi. "Flame Manipulator!" he shouted, summoning a monster onto the field. "Attack!" The monster lunged towards Yugi's Dark Magician, but Katsuya had attacked with a much weaker monster, and he quickly met the same fate as Thousand Dragon. While Katsuya had been filled with rage and anger moments ago, he quickly realised the mistake he had made, and the expression on his face quickly turned to shock and sadness. "I'm sorry," Yugi whispered, as he pointed towards Katsuya, causing his Dark Magician to explode Katsuya's side of the field with magic. The blonde's life points dropped down to zero, and everything became silent.

A victory message appeared on the holographic board, congratulating Yugi on his win. A happy jingle played from the device before it shut down, causing the holographs to disappear. Katsuya's face had changed from a mixture of shock and disbelief to sadness, and the loss made the blonde boy fall to his knees. For a second there was only silence, neither boy dared to say a word, but it was quickly broken by Katsuya shouting out in pain. The taller boy had been reduced to a sobbing mess as he sat in the middle of the road, bawling his eyes out as he tried to form words.

"Y-Yugi-" he cried out between tears. "I-I'm s-so s-s-sorry..." Yugi swung his duel disk into a neutral position again and rushed over to embrace Katsuya. Yugi winced a little as he felt his shirt dampen, but he held on knowing that Katsuya needed his comfort. "I d-don't deserve y-you Y-Yugi," he whispered in pain, but Yugi simply grabbed Katsuya's face and force him to stare into his eyes.

"Katsuya, you can be so thickheaded sometimes, but you're my best friend all the same. Even if it means dueling you, I'd do anything to make you trust me again." Yugi's words caused Katsuya to cry even harder, and he suddenly grabbed the smaller boy and held him in a tight hug. Yugi clawed at Katsuya's back, gasping for air. "K-K-Katsuya!" he shouted as loud as he could, and Katsuya loosened his grip. "S-sorry," he said, chuckling a little. Katsuya leaned his head down to rest on Yugi's shoulder, and Yugi gently rubbed his back while smiling softly. "I've got you buddy, it's alright."

Yami was still stood in the middle of the road, watching his hikari comfort Katsuya after the duel. Even though the duel had been exciting for Yami, all he could focus on and think about was Yugi holding Katsuya. Yami felt a little warmth in his heart, and he slowly reached up and touched his chest. The feeling was nice, like sunlight on your skin or warm sand underneath your feet, and a slight fluttery feeling began to feel Yami's stomach. It was so nice, not only to experience through Yugi, but to see what Yugi's friendship looked like. His caring personality, his understanding heart. Yami couldn't help but feel confused by all these emotions.

"Could I also achieve that relationship with him…?" Yami wondered. Sure, they had only known each other for a few days, but they had certainly created some good memories in that time, such as the delicious meal known as 'pasta'. "I don't understand. It's as if I wish I were in Katsuya's place instead. What does this all mean?" Yami thought to himself with confusion.

Katsuya brought himself to his feet and wiped his eyes, smiling at Yugi. "Thanks for cheering me up, I'm sorry that I can be a real pain." Yugi shook his head and returned the smile. "You're not a pain at all, you're the best friend a guy could have," he replied, giving Katsuya a big hug. The two held each other for a few moments, then pulled away and began laughing. They had been fighting only moments before, and yet they were back to their usual selves almost instantly.

"Hey Yugi, I know you won the duel and everything, but I was just wondering...why were you and Marik avoiding me?" he asked, offering an apologetic and sincere smile. Yugi was taken aback and turned towards Yami, giving him an 'is this alright' look. Yami walked up to Yugi and looked at Katsuya. He was certainly close to Yugi, though it was nothing like the close relations he had once had with his slaves, back when he was alive in Egypt. It was as if Katsuya stayed loyal to Yugi out of friendship rather than duty. Katsuya was also somewhat close with Marik, so he could prove to be a good ally in their search for the other yami.

"Alright Yugi, we can reveal my presence. But we should probably go back to your home, it would be unwise to reveal myself in public."


	7. Chapter 7: Strange Feelings

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of the characters. The only rights I own are to my own original characters. I do not gain any money from this work.**

* * *

Katsuya and Yugi had walked to the game shop together in silence, each for different reasons. Katsuya felt disappointed with himself, knowing that he had been stupid about the whole situation. He could have simply asked Yugi to explain, but instead he forced him to duel and risk their friendship, and even blew up in front of Marik. "There's no way that he'll like me now..." he thought hopelessly. Yugi on the other hand was nervously considering how to explain Yami to Katsuya. He could show Yami colourful all of a sudden, but that might scare Katsuya. Then again, it seemed like there was no other way to make him believe his story. After all, the situation wasn't exactly normal for any of them. If Yugi could learn to accept that he had a near identical spirit from Egypt attached to him through an ancient artifact, so could Katsuya. Yami had also been silent, again for another reason. He looked over at Yugi, examining him more carefully than before. He knew that the Millennium items had strange effects, one being that the yami and hikari would share emotions, but this had felt somehow...different. The more Yami stared at Yugi, the more confused he became, and the stronger the feeling was. There was something about Yugi's bright purple eyes and soft skin that made him look delicate, but his spiky yet soft hair gave him a slightly more serious vibe. Yami thought back to his first morning with Yugi, and remembered the feel of his body. The boy was much smaller in height, and in no way physically fit, yet the whole essence of it just felt...right. Something about the warmth of his skin, the shape of his body, even the smell of his hair. A familiar feeling emerged in Yami's heart, though this time he noticed his face becoming hotter. He wanted to keep daydreaming of that morning, of the way Yugi had felt in his arms, but shook his head firmly. "No...we are both still unsure of the Millennium items and our powers together. Perhaps this is just how Yugi and I are connecting through the Millennium Puzzle. I must focus on the task at hand and learn more about this world," Yami thought as they approached the game shop.

Yugi's grandfather wasn't home, so the three boys walked upstairs and made themselves comfortable. It was probably best that they were alone, as Yugi was incredibly nervous about this reveal. Katsuya was his best friend, and he knew he could trust him, but the whole thing seemed ridiculous because, well, it was. Katsuya sat down on Yugi's bed and cracked his neck while Yugi set his bag down. "Alright, we're alone now, so can you tell me?" He asked, still somewhat sad about his defeat. Yugi looked over at Yami for reassurance, and was glad when the spirit nodded at him. "Alright Katsuya, I'm going to show you something really unbelievable, and maybe even a little scary, but you have to promise you won't freak out." Katsuya raised an eyebrow at Yugi and crossed his arms. "A little scary? What are you talking about Yugi?" The shorter boy sighed and began playing with hands, trying not to focus on his stress. "Come on Katsuya, please just trust me, it's not easy for me." Katsuya stared at Yugi for a few seconds, then sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, hit me."

Yami and Yugi looked at each other, both nervous. "Just try explaining first," Yami whispered, trying to boost Yugi's confidence. He gave him a thumbs up, and the boy turned his attention back to Katsuya. "Okay, well...the reason that Marik and I were being sneaky is because...those Egyptian artifacts were haunted by spirits, and now they're following us." Silence filled the room and Katsuya's expression remained the same, until a few moments later he awkwardly laughed. "You're joking...right? Come on Yugi, just tell me the real reason."

"T-That is the real reason and I can prove it," Yugi stammered. His hands were shaking a little, but he knew things would be alright. Katsuya was his best friend, the two completely understood one another and shared everything. Yes this whole thing was crazy, but he had faith in his friends, just like he had faith in the heart of the cards. Yugi turned to Yami and nodded confidently, as if to say "It's time". Yami stepped toward Katsuya, still transparent, and began shifting from his spirit form to his physical form. There was a slight tingling sensation down his spine and through his heart, and a second later he stood in his physical form, completely visible to Katsuya. The blonde looked up at Yami and blinked a few times before jumping up on the bed in surprise. "What the h-heck?!" he shouted, pointing at Yami. "H-he's a g-ghost!"

"Spirit," Yami corrected him. "An ancient Egyptian spirit from the Millennium Puzzle." Katsuya still couldn't believe his eyes, but he jumped down from the bed and began pacing in Yugi's room. He looked as if he were trying to wrap his mind around an impossible concept, like a new colour or the size of the universe. Occasionally he looked back up at Yami for a few seconds, then began to pace again, softly muttering to himself. Yami simply stood there with a casual expression on his face. It was not an uncommon reaction to see, and sometimes it was even funny, but at this point he was quite used to it and had nothing to say. All he could do was wait for Katsuya to piece it together in his head. Yugi walked up to Katsuya and grabbed his arms, forcing him to stay still. "Katsuya, I know it's crazy, I thought exactly the same too. Just calm down alright? It might help to just talk about it."

Katsuya nodded in agreement and sat down on the bed once again, scratching his head. Yugi sat beside Katsuya and rubbed his back to comfort him, hoping it would provide some security to Katsuya. He looked at Yugi and then at Yami, before finally working up the nerve to ask some questions.

"Alright, so if he's a spirit following you around, why is Marik involved in all of this?" he questioned. Yugi opened his mouth to speak, but Yami cut him off. "Marik also has a spirit following him. People with spirits can see them, even when they are hidden. When Yugi and Marik saw each other's spirits, they were surprised and ran away to discuss it, that's why they left without you. After all, it would have sounded crazy to tell you the truth," he answered. Yami knew that Yugi could explain the situation to Katsuya, however he felt it would seem most believable coming from himself. The blonde seemed a little freaked out still about Yami, considering he had just mysteriously appeared before him, but listened to what he had to say. "I...I suppose you're right."

Katsuya grabbed Yugi into a headlock and started ruffling his hair up, causing the smaller boy to yelp in surprise. "You could have just showed me this guy from the start, Yugi!" he teased playfully, and both of them began to giggle. Through their connection Yami could feel a nice feeling in his heart, as if he were experiencing the bond that Katsuya and Yugi had together as friends. Although the feeling was warm and cheerful, there was another emotion inside of Yami. One that made him want to push the two boys apart, one that made him wish he was in Katsuya's place. "Am I...jealous?" he quietly thought to himself.

Yami shook the thought out of his head. "Of course I'm not. I'm an Egyptian prince, I've existed for thousands of years. Yugi is merely a vessel I must protect, I should not interfere in his relationships," he thought, trying to rid himself of these strange emotions. Yami gave a slight cough, and the two looked at him before pulling away from each other and resuming the conversation.

* * *

After explaining Yugi and Marik's stories and the basic rules of the Millennium items, Katsuya had changed from nervous and suspicious to ecstatic and amazed. Yugi seemed quite happy as well that his friend had accepted the idea that he was being followed by an ancient Egyptian spirit, though Yami was still a little irked by Katsuya. "I'm so glad that you believed me Katsuya, I was really worried," Yugi said sheepishly. "Don't worry about it Yugi, that's what friends are for, remember?" The boys began to laugh, but they were interrupted when an idea popped into Katsuya's head. He grabbed Yugi's shoulders and shook him, startling both Yugi and Yami. "I just had the perfect idea Yugi! You said that puzzle thing can change your fate right?" he shouted. Yugi nodded carefully in response, cautious as to what Katsuya was going to say. "Well, just use it to change things with Ryou! Make him forget about the other guy!" he exclaimed, a sly grin on his face. Yugi's cheeks began to redden at the thought of using that sort of power on Ryou. Technically he could use it to do anything with Ryou. He could make Ryou forget about the guy, or he could change his fate to make Ryou fall in love with him, or even…

He shook his head quickly, trying to make the thoughts disappear. "That would be nice..." he mumbled softly in response, trying to consider everything. Katsuya slapped him on the back and started rambling about all the things Yugi could do with his power, causing Yugi to become more and more excited. "You could grow taller, or becoming the King of Card Games, or win the lottery...think of all the possibilities Yugi!"

"I don't think that's a wise idea," Yami said, his stern voice causing the others to snap back to reality. The expression on his face was one of anger, though it seemed like he wasn't trying to show it purposefully. "The Millennium Puzzle is not a toy, it's actions have consequences. It would be unwise to use it unless absolutely necessary." Yugi nodded in agreement with Yami, however Katsuya was still to excited to listen. "Hey, if Marik has a Millennium item, surely he'll want to use it too. I wonder what sort of stuff Marik could get people to do, maybe he'd hypnotise the teacher into not giving us homework!"

The two boys began to laugh again, but Yami simply rolled his eyes. It was not just the discussion that was annoying him, but also Katsuya's behaviour with Yugi. The way he looked at him and smiled, the way he ruffled his hair...it all seemed too much for Yami. "Excuse me," he muttered, turning transparent and walking through the door. Katsuya and Yugi stopped laughing, though only Yugi noticed he had walked out of the room. "Did I say something wrong?" Katsuya whispered.

* * *

Although Yami couldn't go far from Yugi, he was still able to move around quite far, and had managed to get up onto the roof of the Kame Game store building. Yugi's grandfather had since returned and Katsuya remained in the house despite it getting quite late. The night sky was filled with twinkling stars and faintly pink clouds hung in the sky, indicating that the sun was almost finished setting. Around the shop were tall buildings made of metal and glass, something Yami had never witnessed before. The whole world was so different now, as if his whole life had been turned upside down. For the first time since his arrival with Yugi, Yami felt quite homesick. There was something about the warm Egyptian sand that made him smile, or the simpler architecture. He missed his old clothes, his old food, his old home. It didn't matter how much magic the world was filled with, or how many advancements had been made. Yami still missed his home. He curled up, wrapping his arms around his knees in order to try and keep warm. The thought of everything, from Yugi and his friends to his old home, was too much for Yami to bear, and a small tear began to roll down the side of his cheek. Yami was quick to wipe it away, out of fear of appearing weak. He was the spirit of an Egyptian prince, he had to remain strong while he became accustomed to this new world. He tried to cheer up, thinking of how he could return to the Millennium Puzzle while Yugi slept. Although it was certainly not the same, it was Egyptian built and felt almost as good as home. He thought of seeing Yugi there, showing him all the rooms and sharing his own customs with him.

The thought of Yugi made Yami's head begin to spin. The emotions continued despite Yami's efforts to push them away, and he couldn't help but daydream once more. He thought of what it might be like to be like Katsuya, and be able to hold Yugi. Granted he had done something similar on their first morning together, however it wasn't the same as what Katsuya had done. Yami had simply needed a good night's rest and was trying to mess around with Yugi, whereas Katsuya held him out of friendship and care. It was an unexplainable bond, one that Yami couldn't stop thinking about. The time spent in the Millennium Puzzle had been quite lonely, and Malik was the only person he knew that he may consider a friend. It was as if the whole world had changed around him and now he was alone, and yet Yugi took him in and talked to him as if it were nothing. He had given him the gift of 'pasta' and had shared his clothes and bedroom, and Yami couldn't help but notice how different he was from his other hikaris. While some people used the Millennium Puzzle's power for their own gain or removed themselves from their Millennium items, Yugi had accepted Yami's presence and tried to get along with him. It was all so strange, and yet so nice. He clutched his shirt as he noticed a familiar warm feeling in his heart. With every thought of Yugi's smile and kind words the feeling grew, until Yami realised his face had begun to warm up ever so slightly.

His thoughts were interrupted when Katsuya walked out of the game shop and began his walk home. Yami carefully scaled down from the roof and made his way inside the building, making sure to stay transparent around Yugi's grandfather. Yugi's bedroom door was closed, and although Yami could simply walk through it, he began to debate what to do. "Would it be rude to enter without knocking? Perhaps, but I am an Egyptian prince, if anything Yugi should grovel at my presence...or perhaps I should knock on the door, considering this strange new world," Yami muttered to himself, questioning what to do. He looked around, making certain that Yugi's grandfather wasn't in sight, before quickly returning to his physical form and knocking on the door. He gave two fast knocks and returned to his spirit form, just to make sure he wasn't seen. A moment later the handle turned and Yugi opened the door, looking up at Yami with an innocent face. The strange emotions began to flood Yami's body once again, though he tried his best to ignore them. "I, uh-"

"Yami, I'm so glad you're okay!" Yugi whispered, his expression changing to a mixture of joy and relief. He swung the door open and rushed forward to grab the spirit, but stopped when he realised that he could not touch Yami in his current form. "Oh, uh, come in," his words stumbling, as if he were quite nervous. The only traces of Katsuya were there creases on the edge of Yugi's bedsheets and an empty packet of chips, though Yami still felt a little strange in the room after what they had talked about before. Once Yugi had closed the door Yami switched to his physical form and flopped down on the bed, glad to get some rest. He inhaled the scent of the pillows for a moment, content to be somewhere so comfortable, but stopped when he noticed Yugi's scent. "Argh, what is wrong with me?" he whispered angrily in his head.

"I got worried about you, I wasn't sure if you had disappeared forever or something," Yugi said sheepishly, staring down at the ground while fiddling with his hands. It was obvious he was quite embarrassed and shy about the whole ordeal. Yami sat up on the bed and looked at Yugi, then gave him a gentle and reassuring smile. "Don't worry Yugi, I won't be leaving. I couldn't if I tried." The smaller boy looked up at him and flashed a small smile, then walked over and sat by Yami on the bed. He seemed to be a little more cheerful, though he was still playing with his hands, which Yami took notice of. Yami thought back to how Katsuya had cheered Yugi up by slapping him on the back, though he didn't want to hurt Yugi. He reached over to Yugi's back and gently rubbed up and down, trying his best to comfort him. Yugi jumped a little and looked at Yami with surprise, but soon warmed up to the contact and gave a happy smile. "Thank you for being kind to me like this Yami, everything has been so stressful the past couple days, what with you and Ryou. Don't worry, I'm not going to use the Millennium Puzzle, it was just a nice thought..." Yugi's words trailed off and he became silent and shy once again. "I just...wish I knew who he liked. Maybe then I could try to be more like them, or just put my mind at ease."

Yami began thinking of his encounter with Ryou and felt a deep sinking feeling in his stomach. It was quite obvious that Ryou had a crush on Yami and that he thought the note may be from him. "Yugi..." Yami whispered, catching the boys attention. He had opened his mouth to tell him the truth, but went quiet when he realised how it may hurt Yugi to learn the truth. After all, Yami's form was incredibly similar to Yugi's, albeit more mature and handsome rather than cute. He looked into Yugi's sad yet curious eyes and felt the pain Yugi was going through, then gave him a sheepish smile. "I was going to say...don't worry about Ryou. He said that guy wasn't even going to the school, remember?" Yugi sniffled and gave Yami a big smile, then leaned in for a hug. The young boy's arms wrapped tightly around Yami and he gave a big squeeze. Yami froze up from the sudden contact, and could feel his cheeks turn red again. Yugi's scent wafted into his nose and Yami noticed a slight strawberry smell from the boy. His body was soft and warm, and Yami carefully reached his arms around Yugi and hugged him back. He could feel Yugi's sadness melt away, and the emotion was quickly replaced with a warmer feeling, similar to the one Yugi felt with Katsuya. "I'm glad you're here Yami," Yugi whispered softly into the larger boy's chest. A wave of emotion hit Yami's heart and he could feel his face turning even redder. At first he had no trouble being around Yugi, but now he was beginning to experience strange feelings for him that he couldn't control. "What the hell is wrong with me?" he wondered angrily.

Yugi pulled away from the hug, still smiling happily, while Yami turned away to avoid Yugi seeing his face. "Well I better get some sleep, still tired from being in that Millennium Puzzle for so long, you know?" Yami slipped under the covers of Yugi's bed and pulled the sheets over his face, trying to hide himself from Yugi. "Are you sure? You haven't eaten dinner...and you're still in your clothes," he asked cautiously, confused by Yami's behaviour. "Oh, right," Yami replied, jumping out of the bed. He went into the corner of the room and began to unbutton his clothing, shivering slightly from the exposure to the cold air. He relaxed as he removed his jacket and shirt, but hesitated when it was time to remove his pants. "Ah, I'll get changed over here, so don't look," Yugi said somewhat cheerfully. Yami sighed in relief that Yugi wouldn't be watching him change, though he couldn't figure out why. He thought for a moment as he stripped to his boxers, then came to a realisation. "Perhaps these strange feelings are not mine...what if they are in fact Yugi's and I'm confusing them for mine?" he wondered. Yugi had asked Yami not to look, but Yami had to test this new theory, and so he carefully turned around to sneak a peak at Yugi.

Yugi's shirt and jacket had been removed, and he now began to slip out of his jeans. After adjusting his belt and undoing the zipper Yugi tugged at the fabric, slowly exposing his boxers to Yami. Although he had previously worn loose boxers, he had been wearing a rather...tight fitting pair today. Yami almost couldn't look away, but forced himself to stop looking and his vision snapped back towards the wall. "Yugi didn't seem nervous or shy while undressing...but perhaps he felt these emotions because he was shy deep down while getting undressed? Yes...that must be it," Yami thought to himself.

After the two boys stripped to their boxers they crawled into the large bed and layed down. "Maybe I could convince my grandpa to put a couch in my room...although I suppose another bed would be better," Yugi said as he made himself comfortable. Yami nodded and turned his back, trying to get comfortable. He moved his legs around in the bed, accidentally brushing against Yugi's. He squeaked slightly and tucked his legs upwards, as if he were in a ball. "Goodnight Yami," Yugi whispered, yawning as he turned the light off. The room suddenly turned dark and a sleepy feeling washed over Yami. He snuggled into the pillow and tried to keep himself distracted, desperate to protect himself and Yugi from anymore emotional stress. "Goodnight Yugi," he whispered back.

Yami lay in bed for a few minutes, thinking of anything to distract himself. He remember the food Yugi had given him, and the school that Yugi attended, but none of his thoughts helped him. "They all remind me of Yugi too much," he grumbled in his mind. Still, there was no other way to get to sleep, so he continued to lie there and distract himself. He tried thinking of Egypt but it only made him feel homesick, and he tried thinking of Malik but that only reminded him of how Yugi was his closest friend now. "If these thoughts won't go away from lying here, perhaps I should try to comfort Yugi again," he whispered to himself. He waited and listened for the other boy's soft snoring, and when he was certain that Yugi was asleep, Yami turned over to face the boy. It felt silly, but he wrapped his arms around Yugi and pulled him close, being careful not to wake the small boy. He held his breathe as Yugi fell onto Yami's chest, and after making sure Yugi was still asleep, he relaxed himself and took a deep breathe. The feeling still remained, though this time it was different. It was similar to how Yugi felt when he was with Katsuya, but included the strange feeling that Yami had been experiencing all night, as well as some weird third feeling that Yami couldn't put his finger on. Yugi's scent once again filled Yami's nose, but this time it felt almost...comforting. He closed his eyes and focused on the person he was holding, taking in his senses. Yugi's body was warm, as if he were cuddling a large fluffy dog, though his skin was delicate like a child. The scent of strawberries relaxed Yami, and soon he began to drift off into sleep. His eyelids felt heavy, and just as he was about to fall into a deep slumber he heard a familiar growling noise from his stomach.

"Perhaps I should not have skipped dinner..."


End file.
